Ukraine won't have easy path to join NATO: Biden

"They've got to meet the same standards. So we're not going to make it easy," the US president told reporters near Washington, media reported. 

The comments come before NATO leaders are set to meet in Lithuania next month.

In a symbolic step, alliance leaders are aiming to hold a first session of a NATO-Ukraine Council with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, the alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday in Brussels.

The meeting will give Kyiv a more equal seat at the table "to consult and decide on security issues," Stoltenberg said

But Stoltenberg added that though NATO will tighten political ties with Ukraine at the summit, there will be no talk of membership for Kyiv.

"We're not going to discuss an invitation at the Vilnius Summit, but how we can move Ukraine closer to NATO," Stoltenberg said.

"I'm confident that we will find a good solution and consensus."

NATO countries have already supplied weaponry worth tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine since Russia's military operation last February.

The Kremlin, in turn, has repeatedly warned against continued arms deliveries to Kyiv. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia.

SKH/PR