NATO aims to safeguard commitment to Ukraine amid concern about rising right wing populism
CBSN
The far right has been on the rise across Europe, and former President Donald Trump has seen his poll numbers tick up as European leaders prepare to gather in Washington, D.C., for the NATO summit, where they'll be working to safeguard their commitment to Ukraine. The exact messaging out of NATO and President Biden will be closely monitored by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who last year criticized the group's joint statement as "unprecedented and absurd," for its lack of a concrete timeline for Ukraine's admission to the alliance.
Biden administration officials, in particular, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have said this summit, which is taking place on the 75th anniversary of NATO's founding, will be a "bridge" to eventual NATO membership for Ukraine, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sought. What they did not say was that if Trump wins the presidency, that bridge could fall.
"Sure there's a bridge, but is there really going to be NATO membership for Ukraine on the other side of the bridge? We don't know," says James Goldgeier, a professor of international relations at American University.
