24 February 2022. ABC News: President Joe Biden has repeatedly said he will not order U.S. forces to engage with Russia in Ukraine, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken reemphasized America’s commitment to NATO’s Article 5 in an interview with ABC’s David Muir.
“Is it a possibility that Putin goes beyond Ukraine? Sure, it’s a possibility, but there’s something very powerful standing in the way of that — that’s something we call Article 5 of NATO,” Blinken said. “That means an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all members of NATO. The president’s been very clear that we will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
NEW: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to @DavidMuir: "Is it a possibility that Putin goes beyond Ukraine? Sure, it's a possibility."
More tonight on @ABCWorldNews. https://t.co/N6PX4MAjBa pic.twitter.com/AD0zONIFlp
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) February 24, 2022
Ukraine is not a member of NATO, though their push for inclusion is one of the main factors that motivated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, but several other countries in the region are NATO members. The Baltic states — Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia — joined NATO in 2004, and are fearful of Putin’s land grabs.
“It’s been very clear that we are committed Article 5, we’re committed to defending our NATO allies, and if it comes to that, we’ll do it,” Blinken said. “But right now, our focus is on Ukraine, our focus is on trying to prevent President Putin from going even further. But it looks like he’s going for everything he can get.”
