Athletes-runners will carry Ukraine’s flag from Bakhmut to NATO summit in Vilnius

The participants of the ultramarathon, who are delivering the Ukrainian flag from Bakhmut to the NATO summit in Vilnius, were met by border guards at the Ukrainian-Polish border.

The State Border Service of Ukraine reported this.

As reported, participants of the "Raise the Flag for Ukraine in NATO" marathon handed over the Ukrainian flag to Lithuanian athletes at the Ustyluh checkpoint.

It happened as part of the ultramarathon, which started in Kyiv on June 25.

^{Photo: State Border Service of Ukraine}

The athletes covered the route with the flag of Ukraine, which they received from the Ukrainian military from Bakhmut. In particular, the route ran through the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Volyn regions.

^{Photo: State Border Service of Ukraine}

At the Ustyluh checkpoint, a team of Ukrainian runners handed over the flag to their friends from Lithuania. And they will deliver the Ukrainian flag to Vilnius, where they plan to raise it before the summit of NATO countries, which should begin on July 11.

^{Photo: State Border Service of Ukraine}

"With this action, we want to draw the attention of the world community to the war in Ukraine and bring closer its opportunity to become the 33rd member of the North Atlantic Alliance NATO.

In Lithuania, people will hang Ukrainian flags on houses, balconies, and bridges when the NATO summit will take place so that all delegations will see the flags on all the roads where they will drive," says the race organizer, Daminikas Kubilius.

For reference:

Ukraine clearly understands that it will be able to join the North Atlantic Alliance only after the end of hostilities. However, the state wants to receive a political decision regarding support for accession at the Alliance summit in Vilnius, which will be held on July 11-12.

Moreover, President Zelensky is sure that Ukraine has every reason to receive a political invitation to join the North Atlantic Alliance at the NATO summit in early July.

At the same time, according to POLITICO, support for simplifying the conditions for Ukraine's membership in NATO is growing among Alliance members. This makes it more likely that the proposal will become official during the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.

On September 30, 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal signed Ukraine's application for accelerated accession to NATO.

In addition, on April 10, the Verkhovna Rada [Ukraine's parliament – ed.] appealed to NATO member states and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to speed up Ukraine's entry into the Alliance.

It should be noted that US President Joe Biden stated that he is not going to simplify the requirements for Ukraine on the way to NATO.

Also, Zelensky noted at a joint press conference with the head of the Spanish government Sanchez in Kyiv on July 1 that "today's joint statement is already the 21st such document with the members of the Alliance, and this is the majority."

The Vilnius municipality will join the initiative to support Ukraine's accession to NATO – at least 33,000 Ukrainian flags will be flown in the Lithuanian capital on July 7-11.