Ukraine could still become a NATO member in the future if it meets all the conditions, Swedish Defense Minister Pál Jónsson said.
"I do not foresee Ukraine's NATO membership being off the table", Jónsson said before a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
Jónsson's comment comes after the new US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a meeting in Ramstein on February 12 that the US seriously doubts the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO after the war.
"The United States does not consider Ukraine's membership in NATO to be a realistic outcome of diplomatic settlement," Hegseth said.
He also stressed that allies must recognize that returning Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders is impossible.
"Pursuing this illusion will only prolong the suffering," he added.
Ukraine's position on membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) remains unchanged. This was commented by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov after Hegseth's statement.
"You have heard these statements for the past 33 years. We have to get used to all kinds of statements. Our position has always been unchanged. We want to be a NATO member. We will be a NATO member," the Defense Minister said after the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine.