“Signing of bilateral security agreement is one of the things that we view as part of that bridge to one day Ukraine being able to join NATO,” said Vedant Patel, the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the United States Department of State during the traditional briefing, Paralel.Az reports.

He also called the opinions which were expressed in some circles that official Washington is not interested in holding Russia accountable unfounded: “We have no problem holding Russia to account. And over the course of this conflict, since their brutal invasion into Ukraine, we have taken a number of steps from export controls, to sanctions to hold the Russian Federation accountable.”

The official of the State Department said that together with the partner states, comprehensive support is given to the government of Ukraine:

“We, of course, have offered so much support to our Ukrainian partners when it comes to security assistance, economic assistance, humanitarian assistance. And I will also just note for folks, because I believe you all weren’t able to attend because it was a President’s trip, but just two weeks ago the President signed a bilateral security agreement with President Zelenskyy underlying and reassuring our commitment to the people of Ukraine, because we believe that a commitment such as that one is critical to ensuring Ukraine’s security democratically, economically, and in a security sense as well.

You have this Secretary of State and this President talk about how we believe that it is important there be a bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO. Of course, this bilateral security agreement is not a replacement for that, but it is one of the things that we view as part of that bridge to one day Ukraine being able to join NATO. Look, we have long said that we support and affirm NATO’s open door policy.”