Washington. December 6th. INTERFAX - US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday that Washington considers the policy of "open doors" within NATO to be true, since countries have the right to self-determine their foreign policy.
"We, like previous administrations, have made it clear that the door of NATO is open. And we are committed to the policy of "open doors," Price said, answering a question about the verbal promise made by former US Secretary of State James Baker in the early 1990s that NATO would not expand to the east.
In this context, the press secretary of the State Department pointed out that, in particular, Ukraine has "the right to independently choose the course of its foreign policy."
To the journalist's clarifying question about "whether Baker made a mistake with this promise or the US administration does not believe that they violated this promise," Price also avoided a direct answer. He noted that NATO is a defense alliance, "defensive in nature and orientation."
