NATO countries are willing to invite Ukraine to join, but only when “the conditions are met” and available to support all necessary reforms.
According to the conclusions of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, which began this Tuesday in Vilnius, Lithuania, and ends on Wednesday, the 31 member states “fully support Ukraine’s right to choose its own security arrangements”.
At the summit in Bucharest (Romania), NATO reaffirms the commitment it made in 2008, acknowledging “that Ukraine’s path to full Euro-Atlantic integration went beyond the need for the Membership Action Plan”, as the country ” increasingly interoperable and politically integrated”. in the Atlantic Alliance and “has made substantial progress on its reform path”.
Despite caution, NATO first introduced the word “invitation” to refer to membership: “We will be able to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance when the Allies agree and the conditions are met.”
“Allies will continue to support and assess Ukraine’s progress in interoperability, as well as additional democratic and security reforms needed. NATO Foreign Ministers will regularly review progress made through the revised annual national programme,” adds the statement in point 11. of 90 of a document with almost 40 pages.
The Allies only pointed to a “future accession”, without the “calendar” demanded by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
NATO member states also expressed concern about “the deepening of Belarus’ military integration”, including the deployment of Russian “advanced military capabilities and military personnel” on Belarusian territory.
This has implications for regional stability and Alliance defense. NATO remains vigilant and closely monitors developments, in particular the deployment of ‘private military companies’ [Grupo Wagner] in Belarus,” they added.
At the same time, the Atlantic Alliance condemned the “modernization of Russia’s nuclear forces”.
He also believed that “it is unacceptable for Russia to use dual capability systems to attack civilians and critical civilian infrastructure in Ukraine”.
“We condemn Russia’s announced intention to send nuclear weapons and nuclear systems to Belarus,” NATO’s 31 said, following announcements in recent weeks pointing to the mobilization of part of Russia’s nuclear arsenal to the Minsk controlled area. .
Source: DN
