Ukraine's accession to NATO not easy: Biden

US President Joe Biden has said that Ukraine's accession to NATO is not easy and to gain membership Kiev requires to make special arrangements in this regard.

Biden pointed out on Saturday that Kiev needed to make its armed forces up to par with other NATO members. "They've got to meet the same standards. So we're not going to make it easy," the US president told reporters gathered at Andrews military base near Washington, DC.

The US president insisted that the difficult requirements set for Kiev for gaining accession to the military alliance will not be waived due to its ongoing war against Russia.

Meanwhile, NATO leaders are scheduled to hold their first meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius next month, the alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday in Brussels.

The upcoming meeting will give Kiev a place at the NATO leader's table "to consult and decide on security issues," Stoltenberg said, adding, "We're not going to discuss an invitation at the Vilnius Summit."

He said, however, that the NATO leaders will hold discussions to find ways on how to "move Ukraine closer to NATO." "I'm confident that we will find a good solution and consensus."

The collective US-led NATO countries have already supplied Kiev with tens of billions of dollars worth of arms and munitions since Russia launched its special military operation in February 2022.

US, Russia on brink of direct war as NATO arms transfers to Ukraine escalate: American media

A Washington-based think tank warns that the NATO military alliance and the United States are "creeping closer to the catastrophic scenario" in Ukraine, threatening a direct war between Moscow and Washington.

However, some alliance leaders are said to be worried that Ukraine's accession to NATO would raise the risks of triggering a direct confrontation, and eventually an all-out war with Russia.

Asked about the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus as a deterrent, Biden said he considered it to be a risky move lacking caution.

"I've commented on that many times. It's totally irresponsible," Biden told reporters on Saturday at the military airbase near Washington before departing for Philadelphia.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday had described Minsk's decision to deploy Russia's nuclear weapons in Belarus as "provocative."

However, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the Russian tactical nuclear weapons in the country were a deterrent against US-led NATO countries' expansionist policies and plans for war.

Belarus declares receipt of Russian nukes, vows use if attacked

Belarusian president declares the delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to his country, vowing to use them if attacked by the US-led NATO military alliance.

In an interview on Tuesday, Lukashenko vowed to use the weapons if his country came under attack, stating that the decision to deploy the nuclear weapons in Belarus came after he made a "friendly request" from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

“That was my request. Russia didn’t impose it on me,” Lukashenko underlined as cited by local media outlets. “Nobody has ever gone to war with a nuclear state, and I don’t want anyone to go to war with us. Is there such a threat? Yes. I have to counter this threat.”

Lukashenko warned that he would not hesitate to use the weapons if his country came under attack by US-led NATO forces.

Zelensky asks for more weapons as NATO chief visits Kiev

Ukraine’s president requests more weapons as the NATO chief visits Kiev.

Russia has been repeatedly warning US-led NATO forces against its eastward expansion.

The continuous supply of arms and munitions to Ukraine has also been condemned by Moscow.

The flooding of Ukraine with weapons “will only drag the conflict out and make it more painful for the Ukrainian side, but it will not change our goals and the end result,” the Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said last year.

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