Everybody knew Ukraine is not going to join NATO any time soon.
What NATO representatives said is that Russian threats won’t give them a veto over NATO membership and the original Truman’s system from 1949 of only NATO deciding whether to accept a country stands.
That certainly is the official story.
I am much more cynical of the US State Department having seen them say multiple things on specific topics and then actually doing a third.
They lie by nature and serve their own interests.