During the summit in Vilnius, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg informed that Ukraine will receive a "clear signal" regarding membership in the Alliance, but did not disclose details.
President Volodymyr Zelensky remained dissatisfied with the lack of specifics.
"Now, on the way to Vilnius, we received signals that the wording without Ukraine is being discussed. And I want to emphasize: this wording only refers to the invitation, not to Ukraineʼs membership. It is unprecedented and absurd when there is no time frame for both the invitation and the membership of Ukraine; and when instead some strange wording is added about "conditions" even for inviting Ukraine," the presidentʼs statement reads.
According to Zelensky, it seems that NATO members are not ready either to invite Ukraine to the Alliance or to make it a member, and uncertainty indicates weakness.
- A summit of NATO countries will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12. The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said that at this summit, the Alliance should make a political decision: to present a timetable for Ukraineʼs accession or to undertake to do so by the end of the year, so that this would be a signal to Russia. On the eve of the summit, Kuleba informed that the NATO allies, after negotiations, decided to remove the membership action plan from Ukraineʼs path to the Alliance.
- On July 9, Joe Biden said that Ukraine is not ready for NATO membership. The war must end before the Alliance can consider the inclusion of Ukraine in its ranks.
- On July 7, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg informed that the Alliance will make three key decisions regarding Ukraine at the summit.
- The US, Germany and Hungary are resisting attempts by Poland and the Baltic states to offer Ukraine a plan for NATO membership at the Alliance summit. Polish President Andrzej Duda calls for Ukraine to join NATO. However, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron prefer to discuss security guarantees. France, Germany, Great Britain and the USA can become guarantors.