A joint statement – issued on July 11 at NATO's 74th annual summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius – said Kiev would only be invited to join “when allies agree and conditions are met”, but that Ukraine would be allowed to skip the Membership Action Plan (MAP) normally required of any candidate for membership.
“We reaffirm the commitment we made at the Bucharest Summit in 2008 that Ukraine would become a NATO member, and today we recognize that Ukraine’s path towards full Euro-Atlantic integration far exceeds the need for a Membership Action Plan (MAP),” the joint statement said.
Ukraine has become “increasingly interoperable and politically integrated with the US-led bloc,” the statement said, while also outlining the need for “additional security and democratic reforms” in the country.
“The alliance will support Ukraine in implementing these reforms on its path to future membership. We will be ready to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when the allies agree and the conditions are met,” the statement concluded.
The message is blunt.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg elaborated at a press conference on July 11, saying the alliance must first ensure that Ukraine wins its ongoing conflict with Russia. He warned that if Kiev fails, its NATO membership will be over.
NATO’s latest commitment falls short of calls from top Ukrainian officials, who have repeatedly urged the military alliance to accept the country “immediately” or at least issue a “formal invitation” to the country at the Lithuania summit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to have “burst into a rage” when he made a last-ditch attempt to influence the bloc’s joint statement hours before it was due to be released.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives to deliver a speech at Lukiskiu Square in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 11, 2023. Mr Zelensky will meet NATO leaders on the second day of the summit, after they declared his country's future in the alliance but rejected his call for a timetable for Ukraine's admission. Photo: Getty Images
On Twitter, the Ukrainian leader strongly criticized NATO leaders gathered in Vilnius on July 11, including US President Joe Biden.
“Now, on the way to Vilnius, we have received signals that certain words are being discussed without Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter. “And I want to emphasize that this wording is about an invitation to NATO membership, not about Ukraine’s membership. It is absurd and unprecedented that neither an invitation nor a membership framework for Ukraine is set.”
Mr Zelensky went on to claim that NATO leaders were not serious about inviting Ukraine to join the alliance, complaining that their approach suggested they instead wanted to keep membership as a “bargaining chip” for eventual negotiations with Russia.
“Uncertainty is a weakness,” the Ukrainian president wrote as he prepared to join allies for meetings in Vilnius. “And I will discuss this openly at the Summit.”
Mr Zelensky’s blunt 170-word message sent shockwaves through the summit, where Mr Biden hopes to lead a show of unity against Russia and highlight his ability to rally global partners – a key component of the US leader’s re-election campaign.
“Key decision maker”
While Mr Zelensky did not mention Mr Biden in his Twitter post, the Ukrainian leader called the US president NATO’s “chief decision maker” and was directing his call for NATO membership to the White House.
For his part, the US president has been much more hesitant than other NATO leaders about Ukraine’s efforts, saying that in addition to resolving its ongoing war with Russia, Kiev needs to undergo additional reforms to qualify for membership in the bloc.
The center-right German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) commented on July 11 that Mr. Biden's approach is reasonable.
“He was right to point out that letting Ukraine join would mean NATO would have to fight Russia. No one could seriously want that,” FAZ wrote.
“The decision on Ukraine’s accession is so far-reaching that it should not be taken without knowing exactly what the political-military map of Europe will look like after the end of the war or even in the event of a ceasefire. This concerns the status of Russia as well as that of Ukraine.”
NATO leaders pose for a family photo at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 11, 2023. Photo: LRT
US President Joe Biden poses for a photo with NATO leaders at the Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 11, 2023. Photo: LRT
Biden plans to meet Zelensky before delivering a speech on the conflict in Ukraine on Friday evening in Vilnius, Lithuania. The Lithuanian capital is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the border with Belarus, a close ally of Russia.
NATO members, including the United States, have provided significant funding and firepower to Ukrainian forces to fight Russia’s nearly 17-month campaign, and Biden has gradually responded to many of Zelensky’s earlier requests for military aid, such as agreeing to send controversial cluster munitions to support Kiev’s counteroffensive, despite objections from Washington’s own NATO allies.
World War III
At the NATO Summit on July 11, French President Emmanuel Macron said France would provide long-range Scalp cruise missiles, which have been supplied by the UK under the name “Storm Shadow”, to help Ukrainian forces attack targets deep behind Russian lines.
Germany – the second-largest arms supplier in NATO and the largest in the EU to Ukraine – has also just completed a 700 million euro military aid package for Kiev, the German Defense Ministry said on July 11, the first day of the NATO summit in Vilnius.
The package includes two Patriot launchers from the German Army (Bundeswehr) inventory, 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 25 A5 main battle tanks, five Bergepanzer 2 tanks, 20,000 artillery shells and 5,000 155 mm smoke shells.
Russian officials have repeatedly warned that the shipment of heavy weapons and other military aid to Ukraine makes NATO members de facto direct participants in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
Russia also asserted that Western support would not change the course of the war and would not divert Russian forces from achieving their goals on the battlefield.
Banners reading 'Ukraine' and 'NATO' are seen at the NATO Summit venue in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 9, 2023. Photo: Getty Images
German Patriot long-range air defense systems are deployed at Vilnius airport to ensure security during the NATO Summit in the Lithuanian capital, July 8, 2023. Photo: Daily Advance
Map showing the 31 NATO member states. Sweden applied for membership along with Finland in May 2022. Their application is still pending approval by all current NATO member states. Photo: NPR
On July 11, as NATO leaders gathered at the Vilnius Summit, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev once again stressed that the West's continued military aid to Kiev only increased the risk of escalating tensions with Russia, pushing the world closer to a global war.
“The West is completely crazy and cannot think of anything else,” Medvedev, who is currently deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said in a post on his Telegram channel, referring to new military aid pledges from NATO members to Ukraine.
“In fact, it is a dead end. World War III is getting closer,” Mr Medvedev said. “What does all this mean for us? Everything is clear. The special military operation will continue with unchanged goals . ”
Minh Duc (According to RT, Washington Post, NY Post)
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