At the summit in Vilnius, Germany and the USA are going to block the decision on the quick membership of Ukraine in NATO.
This is reported by the German newspaper Bild, which received access to a secret document that reveals Germanyʼs position on Ukraineʼs membership in NATO. This is also confirmed by the newspaperʼs sources in the German government.
France, Great Britain, Poland and the Baltic states are in favor of inviting Ukraine to the military alliance as soon as possible, but this plan is not supported by the United States, in addition to Germany. Berlin and Washington jointly advocated for the Membership Action Plan, which was adopted back in 2008: it includes many steps that Ukraine must take before joining NATO.
The US position is softer: according to Bild, the American leadership will later abandon the long-term Membership Action Plan for Ukraine, provided that further reforms are carried out.
"We wanted to offer Ukraine the model of Finland, that is, entry within a few months, as soon as the hostilities end," one of the American diplomats said in a comment to Bild.
Meanwhile, Germany insists on the inappropriateness of any statements about "almost ready accession of Ukraine to NATO". Germany does not intend to agree either with the mention of the invitation or with the words about "Ukraineʼs rightful place in NATO" in the final document after the end of the summit.
According to Bild, tonight German representatives will meet in Vilnius with other NATO partners and once again try to find a "compromise" regarding Ukraineʼs membership.
- On July 10, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba informed that the NATO allies agreed to cancel the Membership Action Plan for Ukraineʼs future accession to the Alliance. Also, according to Kuleba, the Alliance should make a political decision at the summit: to present a timetable for Ukraineʼs accession or commit to doing so by the end of the year, so that it becomes a signal for Russia.
- On July 7, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg informed that the Alliance will make three key decisions regarding Ukraine at the summit. In particular, a Ukraine-NATO council will be launched to increase the level of political ties.