BRUSSELS: NATO states are racing to complete a plan to give long-term support to Ukraine, but are wrestling with how best to assure its security until it can join the military group, according to European and US officials.
Four weeks before a NATO summit in Vilnius that is likely to approve the plan, there is agreement that Ukraine cannot join the military alliance while war is still underway against Russian troops, a position accepted earlier this month by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after months of pleading for rapid admission, Reuters reported in Thursday.
According to officials, NATO members are close to agreeing on incremental measures to strengthen relations with Ukraine, including upgrading how the military alliance and Kyiv cooperate and a multi-year program to assist Ukraine bring its troops to NATO operational and technical standards.
The block members have yet to resolve differences over how to address Kyiv’s desire for membership, which has been governed by an unclear 2008 declaration that it will join NATO without setting out how or when.
US envoy to NATO
US envoy to NATO Julianne Smith told journalists on Wednesday that allies are still discussing how to respond to Ukraine’s membership aspirations.
He said that there is rich dialogue across the block with a whole array of views.
Western governments like US and Germany are wary of steps they fear could take NATO closer to entering an active war with Moscow, which has long seen the block’s expansion into eastern Europe as proof of Western hostility.
Asked on 2 June about Ukraine’s aspirations to join the block, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded it would be a potential issue for many years.
