Members of the transatlantic military alliance are looking to build something more than a political support package for Ukraine and could present this at the NATO summit in Washington DC in July.
However, a formal invitation to NATO membership remains unlikely as members are divided over when Kiev might join. The language used remains “when the time is right.”
“At the July Summit, we will continue to bring Ukraine closer to NATO membership… so that when the time is right, Ukraine can join without delay,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier this week.
In Washington, Mr. Stoltenberg met with US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken ahead of the July 9-11 NATO summit, where alliance members are expected to announce their goal of a sweeping support package for Ukraine.
The package could include significant financial resources, in the form of a political commitment to maintain the current €40 billion in annual military assistance and to strengthen the coordination mechanism of all Western aid and training provision, both of which would involve a new “promise” of membership.
As scheduled, Ukraine and its membership will still be a headache at the NATO Summit in Washington DC in July 2024. Photo: CEPA
The “promise” of membership remains a sensitive issue, especially as Ukraine is still waiting for a response to its application for membership, which it submitted nearly two years ago.
Last year, when NATO leaders gathered in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, they gave Kiev only a vague signal, demanding that membership mean ending hostilities and making progress on internal reforms, which NATO is monitoring.
This year, as scheduled, the joint communique of the NATO Summit will once again most likely exclude any form of “invitation,” which is the first formal step in paving the way for any country to join the military alliance, according to NATO diplomats.
“Some NATO allies want forward-looking language that would require an invitation to membership, while others are not enthusiastic about the idea of an invitation,” said one NATO diplomat, echoing a similar dilemma that played out ahead of last year’s summit.
The United States, along with Germany, remains among the most reluctant NATO members to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the military alliance soon.
“The language will not be a repeat of last year in Vilnius but will go a little further,” another NATO diplomat told the EurActiv portal.
“The first is the concept of a bridge to membership, that the whole package, the mission and everything we are committed to is a bridge to Kiev’s membership,” he said. “The second element would be the view that Ukraine’s path to membership is irreversible.”
Speaking in Washington last week, US Secretary of State Blinken said: “We are demonstrating our long-standing support for Ukraine and creating a strong bridge for Ukraine to become a member of the alliance.”
The top US diplomat did not raise any hopes for Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who still wants a “shortcut” for his country to become a full member of the alliance. Instead, Mr. Blinken focused on steps to help Kiev be ready to join the alliance “as soon as possible,” after the end of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Some NATO diplomats are optimistic that a consensus is forming around this language, and so is Mr Stoltenberg. “I am sure that we also have language that says that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance,” the NATO chief said.
In practice, however, the language of “bridges” and “irreversibility” will still not go beyond the promised “path to membership” concept.
Minh Duc (According to EurActiv)
Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/nato-tran-tro-tim-loi-hua-moi-ve-tu-cach-thanh-vien-cho-ukraine-a669587.html
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