Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin: The Goal Is to Bring Ukraine into NATO

EXCERPT:

TUBERVILLE: “I heard Secretary Blinken say last week in Brussels that Ukraine will soon be a NATO, you agree with that?”
AUSTIN: “That — that’s — that’s — that’s the goal of the NATO members, is to, at some point, bring Ukraine into — into NATO. And that’s certainly something that Ukraine wants to see.”
TUBERVILLE: “If you’re Russia, would you want that? I’m just asking. I mean, we’re playing — playing — playing games with Russia. And I just want to understand why we would do that.”
AUSTIN: “Certainly, if I was Russia, I would not want that, senator. I would also not want Finland and Sweden to be a part of NATO and they are. And the reason that they are is because Putin invaded his neighbor, and — and you know, without provocation, without justification. And so that’s why we — that’s why we are where we are. And, you know, instead of — instead of making things better for himself, he enlarged — he had the effect of enlarging NATO, which obviously creates worse conditions for him.”