Stoltenberg: NATO will decide on Ukraine's membership path within a few hours
Photo:AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Today, July 11, on the sidelines of the NATO summit, which is being held in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, the members must positively formulate the movement of Ukraine toward membership in the summit's communique, which will be adopted in a few hours.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated this during a public forum, which takes place simultaneously with the NATO summit in Vilnius, the EP correspondent reports.
"You will see the exact wording in a few hours as we finalize our communiqué. I have already spoken about certain elements that I expect will be present there, but the final approval is up to the leaders, what the wording will be," the NATO leader emphasized.
"I am convinced that the wording of the summit communique will be positive, will be a strong signal regarding Ukraine and the way forward to membership (in the Alliance)," Stoltenberg said.
At the same time, Stoltenberg recalled that in May, at a meeting of ministers in Oslo, he proposed to remove the requirement to implement the Membership Action Plan regarding Ukraine's membership in the Alliance.
"Ukraine has come a long way since the 2008 decision to take the next step in the form of the MAP. Since then, Ukraine has become much closer to NATO, and it is time to reflect this in the Alliance's decisions," he said.
What we know about Ukraine's accession to NATO
Ukraine clearly understands that it can join the North Atlantic Alliance only after the end of hostilities. However, it wants to receive a political decision regarding support for accession at the Alliance summit in Vilnius, which will be held on July 11-12.
According to POLITICO, support is growing for simplifying the conditions for Ukraine's membership in NATO 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, the Verkhovna Rada Chair Ruslan Stefanchuk, and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal signed Ukraine's application for accelerated accession to NATO.
On April 10, the Verkhovna Rada appealed to NATO member states and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to speed up Ukraine's entry into the Alliance.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, during a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, called for a step towards Ukraine's membership in NATO in Vilnius by removing the Membership Action Plan.
Stoltenberg said that the NATO allies agree that Ukraine will become a member of the Alliance but will not consider the issue of its formal invitation to join during the Vilnius summit.
Ukraine also wants to receive security guarantees from NATO members, which cannot be an alternative to membership. It should be noted that the Alliance is already considering several options for security guarantees for Ukraine.
Zelensky said at a joint press conference with the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, in Kyiv on July 1 that "today's joint statement is 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.
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.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that at the Alliance summit in Vilnius, the leaders will adopt a package regarding Ukraine containing three main elements. At the same time, he did not disclose the content of NATO's future decision regarding Ukraine's membership.
In turn, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, announced that NATO member states agreed to cancel the MAP for Ukraine.
Ukraine wants to receive security guarantees from the West until it becomes a full member of the North Atlantic Alliance.
NATO allies still do not have an agreed decision on what the wording of the summit communique will be regarding Ukraine and its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times notes that the summit is likely to adopt a kind of multilateral declaration regarding the individual obligations of the countries regarding Ukraine.
