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June 15 (UPI) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesay denied the announcement of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky that NATO leaders had "confirmed" Ukraine would become a member. Stoltenberg said the vote on Ukraine did not meet unanimous consent.
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"To agree on the membership action plan, you need consensus among 30 allies. This was not the focus of this summit," Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg's statement came a day after the alliance's annual summit in Brussels, where U.S. President Joe Biden did not indicate his opinion on Ukraine's entry into NATO.
"School's out on that question. It remains to be seen. In the meantime, we will do all that we can to put Ukraine in the position to be able to continue to resist Russian physical aggression," Biden told reporters.
These statements come just before a long-awaited summit between Biden and Putin in Geneva on Wednesday.
NATO and the United States have made it clear they will do everything in their power to help Ukraine continue to resist Russian aggression.
The U.S. previously sent $125 million in military aide to Ukraine.
The non-decision is the latest setback for the nation in the years since Russia forcibly annexed the Crimean region of the country in 2014, sparking international outrage.
Since then, Ukraine has been in a tense struggle with Russia amid a separatist rebellion supported by Russia that has claimed the lives of more than 14,000 people.
The Biden administration in April imposed a number of new sanctions against Moscow. In May, Stoltenberg singled out Russia as the main threat in the region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Russian took to state television warning that Russia finds the entry of Ukraine into NATO unacceptable.
