Some members of the alliance are surprised by the “conservative” stance of Berlin and Washington on the matter, according to officials familiar with the matter.
The United States and Germany are under intense pressure from other NATO members to show greater support for Ukraine’s accession to that military bloc, reports The Financial Times.
Some members of the block are surprised by the position “conservative” in Berlin and Washington on the matter, according to officials briefed on negotiations ahead of the Atlantic Alliance summit to be held in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12.
The two countries believe that the summit’s final declaration should not take kyiv’s path to membership for granted, not to mention a formal invitation income for when the Ukrainian conflict ends.
In addition, the talks on Sunday between the NATO ambassadors did not reach a consensus on the text of the final declaration, according to the sources.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden told CNN that he did not believe that the Slavic country was ready to join the military bloc, but that it must first go through a procedure of “qualification” which includes “democratization and some other issues”.
Countries that are opposed to making a formal invitation to kyiv in the short term argue that the most important thing now is to guarantee military and financial assistance. And it is that because the alliance is committed to defending every inch of its territory, an acceptance of Ukraine into NATO would mean that the entire bloc could see in direct conflict with Russia.
When asked about the issue during a press briefing on Friday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan responded that “Ukraine will not join NATO as a result of that summit.” He added that only the steps that the country must follow to become a member of that military organization will be discussed.
“Bring Ukraine closer to NATO”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed on Friday that Ukrainian President will attend the event in Vilnius. Earlier, the top diplomatic adviser to the Ukrainian leader warned that Zelensky would not participate in the summit if member countries do not start the accession process.
Last month, Stoltenberg declared that “all the allies agree that Ukraine will become a member of NATO”, but he specified that the Vilnius summit will only discuss how they can “bring Ukraine closer to NATO“. In this regard, he pointed out the slim chances of kyiv to enter the alliance if it does not beat Moscow.
Days later, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged the Atlantic Alliance to focus on providing long-term security guarantees for kyiv and bolstering its military power. Scholz stated in a speech to Bundestag deputies that the current “absolute priority” is “reinforce actual combat effectiveness” from the Slavic country.
- At their Bucharest summit in 2008, the Atlantic Alliance promised Ukraine and Georgia that they would be part of the body, without specifying a specific date. In March 2018, kyiv was awarded the applicant status a member of NATO, and later, in February 2019, established in its Constitution the intention of joining the military bloc, as well as the European Union. In the midst of the war with Russia, kyiv submitted in September 2022 a request for accelerated accession to NATO.
- Russia has repeatedly requested that NATO stop its eastward expansionthat it does not deploy its military infrastructure near the Russian borders and that Ukraine do not adhere to the organization.
- From Moscow they have repeatedly denounced that the Atlantic Alliance participates directly in the Ukrainian conflict, spending millions of dollars in war aid to kyiv and demonstrating its willingness to escalate.
- Late last month, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, declared that by supplying Kiev with weapons, the West “‘secretly’ finances its military corporations and gets fabulous benefits“, while not worried that Ukraine’s losses will be in the tens of thousands and that already “there are not enough places left in the cemeteries“.
Source: RT
