Harris casts doubt over Ukraine’s membership of Nato

Vice president also refuses to say if she considers Netanyahu a ‘close ally’

Kamala Harris has cast doubt over Ukraine’s membership of Nato after dodging a question on whether the country should join the military alliance.
The Democratic presidential candidate declined to say whether Nato should expand to include Ukraine when questioned on CBS’ 60 Minutes on Monday.
Her answer appears to contradict longstanding US policy and may be cause for concern among allies.
She also refused to say whether she considered Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, a “close ally” in the interview, broadcast on the anniversary of the Oct 7 attack on Israel.
Ms Harris was asked if she considered Benjamin Netanyahu a “real close ally”.
She did not answer the question outright and instead suggested that the bond between the US and Israel went beyond political leadership.
“The better question is, do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people?” Ms Harris said.
“And the answer to that question is yes.”
CBS: “Would you support the effort to expand NATO to include Ukraine?”Harris: “Those are all issues that we will deal with if and when it arrives at that point.”Ukraine joining Nato has been the alliance’s official policy since 2008.pic.twitter.com/oKd3R7G8VO
The vice president was accused of “boycotting” Mr Netanyahu’s speech to Congress when he visited Washington this summer, but subsequently met with him in private.
Asked whether she would support moves for Ukraine to join Nato, Ms Harris answered: “Those are all issues that we will deal with if and when it arrives at that point.
“Right now, we are supporting Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia’s unprovoked aggression.”
The US official position since 2008 is that Ukraine should be a member of Nato.
Despite having ties with the organization, Ukraine remained largely neutral up until its invasion, after which it has increasingly sought membership.
Washington strengthened its commitment to the policy at a Nato summit in Vilnius last year where Joe Biden, the US President, declared: “Ukraine’s future is in Nato”.
A communique signed by members concluded that Ukraine had “become increasingly interoperable and politically integrated” with Nato, and that it would extend an invitation to join “when allies agree and conditions are met”.
In her 60 Minutes interview, Ms Harris contrasted her approach with that of Donald Trump.
She claimed that her Republican rival would “surrender” Ukraine to Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader for whom he has repeatedly expressed admiration.
Ms Harris told host Bill Whittaker that if Mr Trump was president, Putin would be “sitting in Kyiv right now”.
Trump has previously said that he would end the war on “day one” – a statement that many have interpreted as ceding large amounts of Ukrainian territory to Russia in exchange for peace.
“He talks about, oh he can end it on day one. You know what that is. It’s about surrender,” she said.
Ms Harris added that she would not sit down for a bilateral meeting with Putin unless Ukraine was “in the room”.