Bucharest, November 29: NATO doubled down on Tuesday on its commitment to one day include Ukraine, a pledge that some officials and analysts believe helped prompt Russia's invasion this year. The world's largest security alliance also pledged to send more aid to Ukrainian forces locked in battle with Russian troops.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with NATO foreign ministers in Romania to drum up support for Ukraine as Russia bombards energy infrastructure ahead to the frigid winter. Russia cannot stop the alliance's expansion, NATO leaders said.슬롯 머신 사이트 추천Russia-Ukraine War: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Says Kyiv Will Apply for NATO Membership.

슬롯사이트œNATO's door is open,슬롯사이트� NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said before chairing the meeting in the capital, Bucharest. He highlighted that North Macedonia and Montenegro had recently joined NATO, and said that Russian President Vladimir Putin 슬롯사이트œwill get Finland and Sweden as NATO members슬롯사이트� soon. The Nordic neighbours applied for membership in April, concerned that Russia might target them next.슬롯 머신 사이트 추천Russia-Ukraine War: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Calls on All Countries to Reject Russia슬롯사이트™s 슬롯사이트˜Blatant Attempts at Territorial Conquest슬롯사이트� (Watch Video).

슬롯사이트œRussia does not have a veto슬롯사이트� on countries joining, Stoltenberg said. 슬롯사이트œWe stand by that, too, on membership for Ukraine." When they met in Bucharest in 2008, NATO leaders said that Ukraine and Georgia would join the alliance one day.

Some officials and analysts believe that move 슬롯사이트� pressed on the NATO allies by former US President George W. Bush 슬롯사이트� was partly responsible for the war that Russia launched on Ukraine in February. Stoltenberg said NATO expansion would not be hindered.

슬롯사이트œPresident Putin cannot deny sovereign nations to make their own sovereign decisions that are not a threat to Russia,슬롯사이트� the former Norwegian prime minister said. 슬롯사이트œI think what he's afraid of is democracy and freedom, and that's the main challenge for him.슬롯사이트�

Even so, Ukraine will not join NATO anytime soon. With the Crimean Peninsula annexed, and Russian troops and pro-Moscow separatists holding parts of the south and east, it's not clear what Ukraine's borders would even look like.

Many of NATO's 30 allies believe the focus now must solely be on defeating Russia, and Stoltenberg stressed that any attempt to move ahead on membership could divide them.

슬롯사이트œWe are in the midst of a war and therefore we should do nothing that can undermine the unity of allies to provide military, humanitarian, financial support to Ukraine, because we must prevent President Putin from winning,슬롯사이트� he said.

Beyond Ukraine's immediate needs, NATO wants to see how it can help the country longer-term, by upgrading its Soviet-era equipment to the alliance's modern standards and providing more military training.

Slovak Foreign Minister Rastislav Kacer said the allies must help Ukraine so that "the transition to full membership will be very smooth and easy슬롯사이트� once both NATO and Kyiv are ready for accession talks.

In a statement, the ministers vowed to help Ukraine rebuild once the war is over, saying: "we will continue to strengthen our partnership with Ukraine as it advances its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.슬롯사이트� Ukraine, for its part, called for more supplies of weapons to defend itself with, and quickly.

슬롯사이트œFaster, faster and faster,슬롯사이트� Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. 슬롯사이트œWe appreciate what has been done but the war goes on.슬롯사이트� 슬롯사이트œIn a nutshell," he said, "Patriots and transformers is what Ukraine needs the most.슬롯사이트� Stoltenberg confirmed that deliveries of such sophisticated missile systems are under consideration.

Some ministers made pledges of military support for Ukraine, others for financial and nonlethal aid. Slovakia said that it was providing 30 armoured personnel carriers and more artillery.

The US announced USD 53 million to buy electrical parts for Ukraine's battered electrical grid. The network has been battered countrywide since early October by targeted Russian strikes, in what US officials call a Russian campaign to weaponise the coming winter cold.

Estonia's foreign minister, Urmas Reinsalu, went a step further than most, calling on his NATO partners to pledge 1 per cent of their GDP to Ukraine in military support, saying it would make 슬롯사이트œa strategic difference슬롯사이트�. Most NATO allies, however, are struggling to spend 2 per cent of GDP on their own defence budgets.

The foreign ministers of NATO candidates Finland and Sweden are joining the talks. NATO is eager to add the two Nordic nations to the defensive forces lined up against Russia.

Turkey and Hungary are the holdouts on ratifying their applications. The 28 other member nations have already done so.

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