Republican U.S. Senator Josh Hawley is urging the Biden administration to withdraw U.S. support for Ukraine's possible NATO membership, arguing that a commitment to defend the country would undermine efforts to counter China.

Hawley defends a position that is supported by a growing number of Republicans, but is historically at odds with the mainstream GOP consensus still held by his Senate colleagues.

Former President George W. Bush and all NATO leaders agreed at the 2008 Bucharest summit that Ukraine and Georgia would "become" members of the alliance, although no specific roadmap was proposed at the time. NATO does not plan to accept Ukraine in the near future.

Hawley asked the US Secretary of State to clarify how Ukraine's future NATO membership would serve US interests, Axios reports.

Hawley said he supports sending aid that Ukraine needs to defend itself, but argues that US interests are not strong enough to justify a war with Russia.

Biden himself has ruled out sending troops to Ukraine, but plans to move troops to Eastern Europe to bolster NATO defenses, a position supported by most Republicans in the Senate.

Pointing to the inability of NATO member states to spend 2% of their GDP on defense, Hawley urged Biden to rethink underlying assumptions about US foreign policy that have been collapsed by the rise of China.