NATO set to hold off Ukraine invite push as Trump looms
Raw StoryNATO foreign ministers looked set to rebuff Tuesday a push from Ukraine for progress on joining their alliance ahead of Donald Trump taking power in the United States. Zelensky said Sunday that Kyiv was hoping NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels with Ukraine's top diplomat would issue "recommendations" to grant his country a membership invitation. Briefing reporters Monday as Washington announced a new $725 million military aid package for Kyiv, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller reiterated only that "Ukraine is on the path to NATO, and NATO is on the path towards Ukraine's inclusion." - In Kyiv at the weekend, the European Union's new top diplomat Kaja Kallas stated publicly that the bloc "wants Ukraine to win this war" -- but also briefed reporters on bolstering Ukraine ahead of negotiations, with NATO membership the "strongest security guarantee". Trump's new envoy on the Ukraine war Keith Kellogg has floated shelving Ukraine's long-standing NATO ambitions as part of a peace deal -- while still providing Kyiv security guarantees.