According to Nuland, decisions regarding NATO membership are up to each individual applicant country and the 30 NATO Allies and no one else has a voice or a veto in those decisions.

"NATO poses no threat to Russia either – unless, of course, Russia chose to pose a threat to NATO. NATO is a defensive alliance whose sole purpose is to protect its members. Decisions regarding NATO membership are up to each individual applicant country and the 30 NATO Allies. No one else has a voice or a veto in those decisions," Nuland said.

According to her, NATO's "Open Door" policy is a key principle of the Alliance.

"With regard to NATO’s "Open Door", as you know, I’ve been involved in this for more than 30 years, including helping to support and usher into the Alliance some of the Allies that joined after 1997. It is a bedrock principle of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its founding charter from 1949 that its door stays open to any European country who could meet NATO’s high standards. So we have a number who have joined. We have a number who want to join and are working hard with NATO to meet those standards. Those include Georgia, Ukraine, et cetera," Nuland stressed.