"We are not at the stage where the Alliance is discussing issuing an invitation in the short term," Smith said ahead of a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels, Voice of America reported.

Ukraine is seeking an invitation for NATO membership before President Joe Biden leaves the White House in January, according to a new report. A senior Ukrainian diplomat spoke to Reuters and said that a NATO membership would be a fitting legacy for Biden.

Ukraine is asking for a NATO membership invitation before Joe Biden leaves the White House, arguing it would be a fitting legacy for the U.S. president, a senior Ukrainian diplomat said. "Our idea is that giving Ukraine (an) invitation at this moment is a political signal,

The U.S. and its allies are “alarmed” by North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats as well as its increasing military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday, but couldn’t confirm Ukrainian claims that North Korean soldiers were sent to fight for Moscow.

Ukraine called on its allies on Wednesday to impose new sanctions on Pyongyang after it said North Korea had become a de facto participant in the war in Ukraine on Russia's side. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told parliament in a speech to outline his victory plan that his spy services had confirmed North Korea's supply of both weapons and people to Russia,