The Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba informed that NATO allies decided to remove the Membership Action Plan (MAP) from Ukraineʼs path to the Alliance after negotiations.
The lack of an action plan for NATO membership will facilitate Ukraineʼs accession to the bloc.
The Membership Action Plan (MAP) is a NATO program to which candidate countries are admitted. It was approved in 1999, since then 11 European countries have passed through it. But last year, the Alliance invited Finland and Sweden to NATO without a MAP, so Ukraine also insisted on bypassing this program.
CNN previously reported that Biden and his team are having an important conversation with other NATO members about how and when Ukraine can join. On June 16, the CNN channel, citing a source, reported that Biden is not against removing one of the obstacles to Ukraineʼs accession to NATO. For example, he would be ready to abandon the Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Ukraine, which is "a program of consultations, assistance and practical support, taking into account the individual needs of countries wishing to join the Alliance." This is the process that other countries had to go through to join NATO.
Removing the clause on the MAP will be a small step to ease the entry. Ukraine to NATO. Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg offered it to Biden.
- The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said that at the July NATO summit in Vilnius, the Alliance should make a political decision: to present a timetable for Ukraineʼs accession or to commit to doing so by the end of the year, so that this would be a signal to Russia. President Volodymyr Zelensky will also come to the July summit — he has accepted the invitation.
- According to The Financial Times, the USA, Germany and Hungary are resisting attempts by Poland and the Baltic states to offer Ukraine a plan for NATO membership at the Allianceʼs July summit in Vilnius.