Senator Angus King (I-ME) said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “screwed up royalty” by invading Ukraine, which has increased NATO membership.
King said, “I fully understand President Zelensky’s frustration. He is under attack on a daily basis. His people are being killed, his schools and civilians are being bombed. I understand where he is. On the other hand, as Peter said at the end of the his report, if NATO accepted Ukraine tomorrow, we would be in a world war. Under the provisions of the NATO treaty, we would have to fully come to the defense, which would mean troops. I don’t think that would be appropriate at this time.”
He continued, “I think President Zelensky understood that. I think he basically must have picked up on that in his conversation with President Biden. This is a decision that has to take some time. There’s an interesting sort of twist to this, to the extent that NATO makes a firm commitment that says, when the war is over, you will be a member of NATO, that could prolong the war. That encourages Vladimir Putin to say, ‘I have to win this thing or drag it out, because otherwise, they are going to come into NATO. That’s my worst nightmare.'”
King concluded, “Putin has screwed up royalty here. NATO is stronger than it has ever been. Sweden is going to come in. Turkey dropped their objection. Finland is in. NATO is larger, stronger and more united than it has been in 50 years due to Vladimir Putin’s actions. I think being more deliberate about the admission of Ukraine to NATO is the exactly proper position.”
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