VILNIUS (Reuters) – NATO leaders said on Tuesday that Ukraine should be able to join the military alliance at some point in the future but they stopped short of offering Kyiv an immediate invitation, angering Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The leaders were meeting at a summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius as Ukrainian troops struggled to make significant gains in a counteroffensive against the Russian invasion forces occupying parts of the country.
The leaders said in a declaration: “Ukraine’s future is in NATO”. But they offered no timeline for the process.
“We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are met,” the declaration said, without specifying the conditions Ukraine needs to meet.
NATO did drop a requirement for Ukraine to fulfil what is called a Membership Action Plan (MAP), effectively removing a hurdle on Kyiv’s way into the alliance.
Even before the release of the declaration, Zelenskiy had assailed NATO leaders.
“It’s unprecedented and absurd when a timeframe is not set, neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership,” Zelenskiy said before arriving in Vilnius as a special guest.
Speaking at a rally in Vilnius on Tuesday, Zelenskiy voiced disappointment that Ukraine was not invited to join NATO.
“NATO will make Ukraine safer, Ukraine will make NATO stronger,” he told the thousands of people, many waving Ukrainian flags.
“I travelled here today with belief in a decision, with belief in partners, with belief in a strong NATO…”
“I would wish for this belief to become a certainty – certainty in decisions that all of us deserve and which our every soldier expects, our every citizen, our every mother, our every child. And is this too big of a wish?” he asked.
SIGNIFICANT AND DIRECT THREAT
The NATO stance highlighted the divisions among its 31 members over giving a date or a straightforward invitation for Ukraine to join. Kyiv has been pushing for a swift entry, bound together with security guarantees, since even before Russia unleashed its invasion in February 2022.
NATO members in eastern Europe have backed Kyiv’s call, arguing that bringing Ukraine under NATO’s security umbrella is the best way to deter Russia from attacking again.
Countries such as the United States and Germany have been more cautious, wary of any move that they fear could draw NATO into a direct conflict with Russia.
