Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as envoy for special missions, warned that NATO leaders would face backlash from the United States if they pushed to extend alliance membership to Ukraine without first boosting their own support for the embattled eastern European nation.
Amid the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war, NATO leaders have discussed steps to extend the alliance membership to Ukraine, but the alliance is still working out details of the ascension plan.
Speaking at a Jan. 23 panel discussion on Ukraine on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance is committed to extending membership to Ukraine, but still has to work out the ascension process.
“The question now of course is how this will exactly play out whenever hopefully as soon as possible,” said Rutte, a Dutch national.
Calling into the panel from California, Grenell pushed back on Rutte’s comments.
“I think you’re going to run into a big buzzsaw in America if we have the NATO secretary general talking about adding Ukraine to NATO,” Grenell said.
While Ukraine has sought NATO membership for years, the alliance’s ascension process requires the unanimous support of all current member nations. U.S. opposition alone could halt Ukraine’s membership. […]
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