NATO has an open door policy, which means if all of the members consent, then any country can join. I think that when the US and its allies picked up on the fact that Russia was going to invade the U.S., they tried to allay some of Russia's fears about Ukraine's NATO aspirations. So this has been always a red line to Russia that the West has understood. There are democratic and good governance standards and things that need to happen before any country could enter NATO. And I think there's a feeling that Ukraine is not yet there.
President Biden and other world leaders say it’s too dangerous to admit Ukraine into NATO while it’s at war with Russia. But, to the dismay of allies, the US will send cluster bombs to the front.
This episode was produced by Avishay Artsy, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard with help from Amanda Lewellyn and Hady Mawajdeh, engineered by Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Noel King.
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