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Blinken said the West is focused on bringing Ukraine closer to NATO standards

October 3, 2025

NATO’s “open door” policy towards Ukraine has not changed, with the West focusing on practical steps to bring the country up to alliance standards. So said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

“We are focusing on the practical steps that can be taken…to bring Ukraine up to NATO standards. Of course, NATO’s doors remain open. There is no change,” he told a press conference in Brussels.

Blinken added that Western countries were now focusing their efforts on helping Ukraine repel “Russian aggression” and so that Kiev could “return more occupied territory.

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that talking about Ukraine’s NATO membership is only possible if it is preserved “as a sovereign nation”. At the same time, he noted that the position on Ukraine’s membership remains unchanged and the country will be admitted to the alliance.

Blinken’s post that the West is focused on bringing Ukraine closer to NATO standards

Russia Desk

Russia Desk

The Russia Desk leads The Eastern Herald's coverage of Russia, the war in Ukraine, NATO's eastern flank, and the post-Soviet space. The desk has reported continuously on the Russia-Ukraine conflict since its full-scale expansion in February 2022 and verifies through Kremlin statements, NATO briefings.

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