The United States has suggested putting aside the discussion on NATO's Membership Action Plan (MAP) provision for Ukraine and Georgia, while focusing on assisting these countries in the implementation of the necessary reforms.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker said this in a video commentary on Georgia and Ukraine's NATO prospect.
"We've proposed to put aside this debate of those countries that favor MAP and those countries that oppose the MAP, put that to one side and focus on moving ahead with the reforms that are necessary. That's the way we'd like to do this. If we do that, I think we can deescalate the issue, we can avoid a confrontation and just get the work done that needs to be done," Volker said.
"The problem is that if we don't do that, then we're going to face a crisis within NATO every time we meet. Is it MAP? Is it not MAP? What do we do? And I don't think NATO needs that, and I also think that that creates a potential crisis with Russia every time NATO meets. Do we have MAP, don't we have MAP? We ought to deescalate the situation, just do the business that's necessary now, help these countries reform, keeping an eye focused on the fact that eventually they will become members of NATO and that's already decided," he added.
The U.S. ambassador said that while talking about Ukraine and Georgia, the NATO member-states should first focus on what they all agree on.
