In the absence of an agreement on the possibility of guaranteeing Ukraine’s entry into NATO as soon as the war ends, the allies are considering offering Kyiv a faster accession process than usual when the allied leaders meet at the summit that will take place in Vilnius in July.
“There are more and more indications that the whole world could agree on that,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said yesterday, asked about the information that the United States is willing that Kyiv does not have to go through the same formal process that has been required of other countries in the past. “I would be open to that,” Pistorius added.
This formula, which would exempt Kyiv from completing the traditional entry roadmap, opens the door to a possible compromise between the capitals that defend that NATO must promise Kyiv immediate entry at the meeting in the Lithuanian capital as soon as the end of the war, as requested by President Volodimir Zelenski, and the position of Washington and Berlin, reluctant to take that step even though they do not question that the country will one day be a NATO partner, which already in 2008, under pressure from the Bush administration, He said that his future is in this alliance.
For the moment, the allied defense ministers yesterday agreed on different measures to “closer” Ukraine to the military organization, prioritizing the short term rather than entering into discussions about possible security guarantees or adhesion.
“The most urgent thing now is to make sure that Ukraine survives as a sovereign and independent nation and can remain a democratic country in Europe because, if it doesn’t, there is nothing to talk about accession,” Allied Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. in the same vein as the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin. “This is a really critical time” and “I have been focused on making sure we give Ukraine the security assistance it needs to succeed in this fight.”
From the meetings held this week in Brussels within the framework of NATO and the contact group for Ukraine, in which 50 countries participate, new commitments have emerged to send arms and ammunition in addition to the delivery of “hundreds” of missiles short and medium range anti-aircraft defense by the US, UK and Germany. Denmark and the Netherlands, for their part, are going to start training Ukrainian pilots in the handling of F-16-type aircraft, a decision that will lead to the delivery, in a few months, of more modern combat aircraft and that solidifies ties between NATO partners and Ukraine.
In parallel, the allies have decided to raise the level of political cooperation and turn the NATO-Ukraine bilateral commission into a council, in which the 31 allies and Kyiv will make security decisions “on an equal footing.” The first meeting of this body will be held during the leaders’ summit scheduled for July 11-12 in the Lithuanian capital, where the US, UK and other countries will offer long-term security guarantees to Ukraine. “We don’t know when this war will end, but when it does, we need to put in place a framework that will ensure Ukraine’s security and make sure that history doesn’t repeat itself and Russia just decides to reorganize and rest to rearm and strike again.” Stoltenberg says. For Zelensky, only joining NATO is a guarantee that Russia will not attack her country again.
