US President Joe Biden began a five-day trip to Europe on July 9. His first stop will be the UK, where he will meet King Charles III for the first time since the coronation of the British monarch, as well as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
But the most important leg of Mr Biden’s European trip will be in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius for the 74th NATO Summit, taking place on July 11-12, where the controversial question of whether Ukraine can (or should) join the NATO military alliance remains.
Before departing for Europe, the US President made a controversial decision: Providing cluster munitions to Ukraine.
The decision, which Mr. Biden called “difficult” but necessary, has caused an uproar in the international community, met with opposition from important allies such as Canada and the United Kingdom, and even many bipartisan US lawmakers disagreed.
A simulation video produced by the Turkish armed forces shows the firepower of cluster munitions fired from a cannon using NATO-standard 155mm ammunition. Source: Telegram Channel Ukraine Watch
All of this, however, is unlikely to hinder the US president's efforts to strengthen NATO unity on economic and military support for Ukraine.
When it comes to the NATO summit – the transatlantic alliance’s fourth since Russia launched its “special military operation” in the Eastern European country – the bigger question is: Will Ukraine be given a path to membership?
Poland and the Baltic states, the most hawkish on Russia in the alliance, want NATO to provide Kiev with a roadmap to membership – something it has been vaguely promised since 2008.
But the US and Germany believe Ukraine is not yet ready politically or militarily, and worry that admitting Ukraine would eventually drag the alliance into direct conflict with Russia. Mr Biden prefers something more like the “Israeli model”, in which Western allies continue to arm Ukraine’s military “to the teeth” but do not formally accept the eastern European country into NATO.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was invited to the summit in Lithuania, but has issued an “ultimatum” that he will not attend if there is no progress on Ukraine joining the NATO alliance.
The last time US President Joe Biden met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was at the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May 2023. Photo: NY Post
President Zelensky has not yet decided whether to go to Vilnius, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European integration Olha Stefanishyna said on July 9 in an interview with Ukrainian media outlet Evropeiskaya Pravda.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on July 7 that Mr. Zelensky would attend the first meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council on the sidelines of the Summit in Vilnius (Lithuania). However, Mr. Stoltenberg did not promise that during the Summit, Ukraine would be invited to join NATO after the war in the country ended.
In the event that Ukraine does not receive an invitation to join NATO at the summit, Ms. Stefanishyna said, it would have to reconsider its strategy. According to the official, Ukraine would then shift its focus from NATO membership to providing Kiev with security guarantees from the West.
The decisions of the Vilnius Summit will launch processes related to strategic planning, military support, military planning, priorities in relations with allies and security assurance, she added .
Minh Duc (According to GZero Media, TASS)
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