Minister Dmytro Kuleba: After Vilnius, Ukraineʼs path to NATO became shorter, but not faster

After the NATO summit in Vilnius, Ukraineʼs path to the Alliance became shorter, but not faster. Ukraine must now implement the decisions of this summit in order to speed up Euro-Atlantic integration.

This was stated by Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba in an interview with Radio Svoboda.

"There is a plan ʼAʼ — membership of Ukraine in NATO. The only question is to go through this path as quickly as possible. We donʼt need a plan ʼBʼ. We have already played this thing throughout the history of Ukraine many years ago. We need NATO membership. Ukraineʼs membership in NATO will strengthen the Alliance itself, make our country more protected, and most importantly, it will prevent new aggressions in Europe," Dmytro Kuleba added.

He also commented on the acceptability of the "Israeli" security model for Ukraine — Israel is the most stable partner of the US in the Middle East, and its assistance is enshrined in 10-year agreements. Kuleba replied that Ukraine would be satisfied with any model that would not be an alternative to its membership in NATO.

"Everyone understands, and the partners understand, that the strongest, most powerful guarantee that there will be no more war in Europe is Ukraineʼs membership in the Alliance. All other security guarantees are good. But nothing can replace NATO membership. This is the presidentʼs principled position. And it will be implemented in those decisions that are adopted," Kuleba added.

• On July 11, at the NATO summit, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine will receive an invitation to NATO when all allies agree to it and the conditions are met. Mainly, it is the fight against corruption, reforms to modernize public administration institutions (including the security and defense sector), compatibility with NATO standards, and the end of the war. In addition, the Alliance decided to cancel the MAP for Ukraine.