After weeks of tense negotiations, NATO on Tuesday invited Ukraine to join the alliance at an undetermined point in the future, but only if allies agree that the conditions are ripe and that Ukraine meets the qualifications to join. to act.
In its communiqué, agreed by all 31 NATO members, the alliance says that “Ukraine’s future lies in NATO”, and pledges to continue to support the country in its war against Russia and to support the alliance’s foreign ministers. involved in a periodic review of Ukraine’s progress. towards achieving NATO standards — both in terms of democratization and military integration.
The wording essentially marked a victory for President Biden, who recently declared that “Ukraine is not ready for NATO membership.” Just hours before the communiqué was issued, Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine harshly criticized “uncertainty” over Ukraine’s path to membership in the alliance.
Alliance leaders struggled to agree on how to spell out a timeline and terms for what everyone believes will be Ukraine’s eventual NATO membership. The battle within NATO was not about whether Ukraine would join, but about how and under what conditions. Some countries wanted an immediate invitation after the end of the war; other countries, such as the United States, wanted to avoid any idea that accession would be automatic.
While Mr Zelensky wanted more, NATO officials claim he will have numerous benefits to take home from this summit, such as closer ties to NATO, a stronger commitment to membership and specific offers of financial and military aid on long term.
Asked about Mr Zelensky’s concerns, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the most important thing now is to ensure that his country wins the war against Russia, because “unless Ukraine is victorious, there is no membership at all that can be discussed.” Mr Stoltenberg said the commitments now differ from the vague promise made in 2008 that Ukraine and Georgia would one day join the alliance, without specifying how or when.
Here are some key new alliance commitments to Ukraine:
NATO agreed that Ukraine does not have to go through a preparatory and more time-consuming process to prepare for an invitation to join the alliance, a so-called Membership Action Plan. Sweden and Finland were also allowed to skip such a route.
The alliance is establishing a NATO-Ukraine Council, a new joint body for Kyiv and allies to deepen their relationship ahead of Ukraine’s membership. The inaugural meeting, which Mr. Zelensky is expected to attend, will take place in Vilnius on Wednesday.
The communique stressed the urgent need to continue non-lethal aid to Ukraine, expanding an existing aid program to “assist in the reconstruction of Ukraine’s security and defense sector and Ukraine’s transition to full interoperability with NATO” .
The document unequivocally condemned Russia and called on Moscow to “completely and unconditionally withdraw all its troops and equipment from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, extending to its territorial waters.”
It also condemned Russia’s “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and coercive nuclear signaling”, as well as plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus.
