German DPA news agency publishes Macron’s statement on countries opposing Ukraine’s NATO accession, then deleted it

Updated at 20:10: The German news agency DPA published Macron's statement on opponents of Ukraine joining NATO, then deleted it, stating that Macron did not say the quotes ascribed to him.

European Pravda apologises to readers for the incident that occurred. The following is an early version of the article.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that the US and Germany are the main opponents of Ukraine’s accession to the North Atlantic Alliance.

As reported by DPA, ahead of the NATO summit in Washington, DC, Macron said that there was strong opposition to inviting Ukraine to join NATO from the US and Germany.

"In the end, it will be a decision by the allies to invite Ukraine to join NATO," he said.

Macron recalled last year’s NATO summit in Vilnius, which Kyiv was not invited to attend, despite public criticism from Ukraine.

"Ukrainians were quite annoyed when they concluded that the door [to NATO] was open, but not that much. And I think the scenario for the Washington summit is the same," Macron said.

Several media previously reported the US and Germany’s opposition to Ukraine’s accession to NATO.

At the same time, Ukraine’s path to NATO is described as "irreversible" in the draft communiqué of the NATO summit in Washington.