British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said in an interview with Politico that "now is not the time" for specific talks about Ukraine's bid to join NATO as the allies discuss how to respond to Kyiv's bid to join the military alliance.

 "Obviously, there are long-standing commitments to provide Ukraine with a path to NATO membership," Cleverley said, adding that "the priority, of course, right now is their self-defense here and now."

 The minister acknowledged NATO's commitment, taken during the Bucharest summit in 2008, that Ukraine would finally join the alliance. But he claims that this needs to be discussed "at a later stage". Cleverley's remarks came as Ukrainian officials in recent days repeated their calls for the country to move closer to NATO, which Politico reported drew mixed reactions from the alliance's leaders.

 It is noted that this issue was also at the top of the agenda during the meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels this week. According to Cleverley, Ukraine's place in the European security architecture is "an issue that needs to be resolved at the stage of reconstruction."

 "As part of this reconstruction, Ukrainians and, of course, everyone else will want to see a reliable way to ensure that the brutality they are currently being subjected to will not be repeated in the future. How exactly that will happen is a conversation that still needs to be had," the minister added. .

 He continued that London wants to support Kyiv on the way to NATO membership, however, in his opinion, "consistency is important, today's work helps them protect themselves."

 As the publication notes, NATO allies still disagree on how to realize Ukraine's desire to become a member of the Alliance, as London and Washington want to focus on immediate practical assistance to Kyiv. However, a number of allies on the eastern flank want to bring Ukraine closer to the alliance now, in order to publicly signal that Ukraine will definitely join the alliance when hostilities cease, writes Politico.

 On Tuesday, April 4, in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed support for Ukraine's membership in NATO.

 "The future of Ukraine is the Euro-Atlantic family," he told journalists.

 Later, the General Secretary explained that in order for Ukraine to become a full member of NATO, "at least two things are necessary", one of which is victory as a sovereign independent state.