It would be “absurd” if NATO did not set a clear deadline for Ukraine’s membership, says the Ukrainian president. At the Vilnius summit, NATO is giving different signals. Germany and France promise to supply arms. Russia again warns of direct conflict.
A two-day NATO summit in Lithuania begins on Tuesday with discussions on more support for Ukraine and expanding defense against Russia. In the opinion of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Ukraine must now receive a clear sign of admission to the transatlantic alliance. It will probably take a while for that to happen.
“Ukraine has come a long way,” Stoltenberg said on Tuesday ahead of the start of the NATO summit in Vilnius. For this reason, the alliance should refrain from using the usual Membership Action Plan (MAP) to present candidates for membership in the case of Ukraine. “Ukraine is much closer to NATO, so this should also be reflected in NATO decisions,” Stoltenberg emphasized.
Stoltenberg sees the continued expansion of the defense alliance as a sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s policies are failing. “He went to war because he wanted less NATO. He’s getting more Nato,” said the Norwegian. The fact that Finland was already a member and Sweden is now a member shows that Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine was a “big strategic mistake”. He downplayed both Ukrainians and NATO unity, as well as the political fallout in countries like Sweden and Finland.
Zelensky sees Ukraine on a NATO course
In addition to the President of the United States, Joe Biden, and the other heads of state and government of the 31 countries of NATO, several guests are also expected at the meeting in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. One of them is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He would like a specific invitation to his country, but he will hardly receive it for the time being due to resistance from countries like Germany and the United States.
According to the Lithuanian ambassador to NATO, Ukraine will not receive an invitation to join the Western alliance in Vilnius. There will be no invitation, Deividas Matulionis said on Lithuanian radio on Tuesday. “But a much clearer process is being put in place for how that invitation can happen if the conditions are right.”
“It is unprecedented and absurd that there is no timetable either for Ukraine’s invitation or membership.”
Volodymyr Zelensky
ukrainian president
Zelensky called it “absurd” if NATO did not offer his country a clear timetable for joining the transatlantic military alliance. “It is unprecedented and absurd that there is no timetable for Ukraine’s invitation or membership,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “And at the same time there are vague formulations of conditions even for an invitation from Ukraine,” he continues. NATO hesitation would only motivate Russia to “continue terror”. However, he will travel to the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. “Uncertainty is weakness,” emphasizes Zelensky. “I will openly address this at this summit.”
However, the Ukrainian president was confident ahead of the Vilnius summit. His country will belong to the military alliance after the end of the Russian war of aggression. The Vilnius summit must confirm that Ukraine is a de facto member of the military alliance. “Even if different positions are expressed, it is still obvious that Ukraine deserves to be in the alliance. Not now – now is the war, but we need a clear signal,” he said in a video message distributed in Kiev late on Monday. fair. “Most of the alliance is clearly for us.”
Germany supplies more weapons and ammunition, France long-range missiles
In any case, Stoltenberg is convinced “that the allies will confirm on the question of membership that Ukraine will become a member.” It is particularly important to ensure the continued supply of ammunition to Ukraine, he said. Germany has already announced more support: it is supplying Ukraine with more weapons and ammunition worth almost 700 million euros. This became known in government circles outside the NATO summit.
France will deliver long-range missiles to Ukraine. This would allow the country to better defend itself against the Russian attack, justified President Emmanuel Macron. “I decided to increase shipments of weapons and equipment to give Ukrainians the ability to carry out deep attacks, adhering to our doctrine that allows Ukraine to defend its territory,” Macron said upon arrival in Lithuania. In May, the UK became the first country to confirm the delivery of long-range Storm Shadow missiles.
Russian ambassador warns of direct conflict
Russia is upset about the solidarity with Ukraine expected at the NATO summit. “Everything is being done to prepare local public opinion for the approval of the anti-Russian decisions that will be taken in Vilnius in the coming days,” wrote the Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, on the Telegram channel of the Mission in Washington. With the expected decisions, the US took NATO into a “worst case” confrontation with Moscow.
And according to the Russian ambassador to Belgium, Alexander Tokovinin, NATO’s policy towards Russia increases the risk of a direct conflict. According to the Russian state news agency RIA Tokovinin, the regional defense plans that NATO intends to adopt at the Vilnius summit would make the confrontation between the Western military alliance and Russia longer and more tense.
According to Russia, Europe would be the first to face “catastrophic consequences” if the war in Ukraine escalated. The US is pushing for such an escalation, Vienna-based Russian diplomat Konstantin Gavrilov was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency RIA. Gavrilov is one of Russia’s top security negotiators.
US President Biden wants to hold a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the NATO summit in Vilnius. The two were due to discuss long-term U.S. security commitments with Ukraine on Wednesday, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday. According to information from German government circles, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is also planning a bilateral meeting with Zelensky on Wednesday. Scholz wants to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as early as Tuesday afternoon. Zelensky is expected to attend the defense alliance summit in the Lithuanian capital as a guest.
Erdogan’s Yes to Sweden’s Accession
A few hours before the start of the summit, Sweden received the green light to join the alliance. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced late on Monday, after mediation talks with the leaders of Sweden and Turkey in the Lithuanian capital, that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had lifted his veto against the country. Nordic. Erdogan assured that he wants to forward the ratification of Sweden’s accession to the Turkish parliament. Before heading into crisis talks, Erdogan surprisingly made his country’s EU membership a condition of ending the veto, prompting EU Council President Charles Michel to attend the Vilnius consultations.
Biden, in consultation with Congress in Washington, will move forward with transferring F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. Biden “clearly expressed his support for the handover,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius. “He made no reservations about it. … He intends to proceed with this transfer.” On Monday night, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan approved Sweden’s application to join NATO. Some NATO partners see its months of hesitation over the issue as a means of exerting pressure on the United States to supply Turkey with much-desired F-16 fighters. (APA/dpa/Portal)