Washington: President Joe Biden told CNN in an interview aired on Friday that the US is willing to offer Kiev an alternative to NATO membership in the form of a security arrangement similar to the one that is currently extended to Israel.

In regards to Ukraine, Biden said, "I don't think it's ready for membership in NATO." "I don't think there is agreement within NATO about whether or not to admit Ukraine at this time, in the midst of a war," said the author.

If a country joins the US-led military alliance, it agrees to defend its entire territory, meaning that "if the war is going on, then we're all in a war." If that were the case, we would be at war with Russia, Biden told CNN's Fareed Zakaria.

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At the upcoming summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Ukraine has demanded an invitation from NATO or at the very least a statement about when it might be prepared to welcome it on board. Described NATO as "a process that takes some time" and involving reforms like democratisation, the octogenarian US president said it was "premature" to call for a vote right away. According to Biden, the US must provide Ukraine with a "rational path" to membership.

Biden said, "And one of the things I indicated is, the United States would be ready to provide, while the process was going on, and that's gonna take a while, to provide security a la the security we provide for Israel: providing the weaponry they need, the capacity to defend themselves," adding, "If there is an agreement, if there is a ceasefire, if there is a peace agreement."

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It was unclear what he meant by that given that Kiev has rejected any discussions of a "frozen conflict" or ceasefire, the US has vowed to hold negotiations about Ukraine with Ukrainian representatives present, and Russia has stated that it will only negotiate with President Vladimir Zelensky and his Western handlers.

The New York Times first mentioned the "Israel model" last month, describing it as a temporary commitment to keep Western weapons flowing to Ukraine. According to Russian military estimates, the US and its allies gave Kiev more than $100 billion in arms, ammunition, and equipment in 2022 alone.

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Since breaking up the alliance was believed to be one of Russia's political goals, according to Biden and the US intelligence community, "holding NATO together" was his top priority, he told Zakaria. At the summit in Geneva two years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin requested a US commitment that Ukraine would not join NATO; however, Biden refused, citing the organization's "open door policy."