US President Joe Biden agrees to remove one of the obstacles to Ukraine joining NATO, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.

According to the source, Biden would be willing to abandon the Accession Action Plan (AAP) for Ukraine, which was described in the 2008 agreement as “the next step for Ukraine … on their direct path to membership.”

The MAP, characterized as “a program of advice, assistance and practical support tailored to the individual needs of countries wishing to join the Alliance”, is the process that other countries have had to go through to join NATO.

Why does it matter? Its removal would be a small step to facilitate Ukraine’s entry into the alliance.

It is part of a proposal by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and was discussed when the two leaders met in Washington earlier this week, the source said.

The US president is most concerned about finding a concrete proposal that will be supported by the rest of the allies and that will signal to Ukraine that it is moving towards accession, the source said.

However, the United States still does not see Ukraine joining the alliance as inevitable because of the reforms Kyiv needs to implement, and the source said Stoltenberg’s proposal reflects that.

The proposal of the head of NATO does not contain specific terms for Ukraine’s accession to the alliance, which is persistently demanded by some members of the alliance.