The President of the United States and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelensky, will meet today in Vilnius (Lithuania), where the NATO summit was held. Zelensky has argued that your country needs long-range weapons to fight the russian forces in ukraineand that he will raise the issue in talks with Joe Biden.
The meeting takes place a few days after the US leader will announce the supply of cluster bombs to Ukraine to defend against Russian aggression. The Ukrainian president has thanked Biden for his decision, saying that they were necessary for the defense of Ukraine and to help recover the territory occupied by Russia.
However, Ukraine’s NATO membership remains aimless, in contrast to Sweden’s new membership after the lifting of the Turkish veto. Volodímir Zelenski wanted to express his position on Twitter, defending that “optimum” it would have been to receive a “formal invitation” to join the Alliance
[EEUU entregará a Ucrania bombas de racimo en su nuevo paquete de ayuda militar]
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he was confident that the Alliance leaders would give “a clear and positive message” to Ukraine about the country’s accession process to the transatlantic organization in the text they will agree on during the summit they are holding. in Vilnius. “Also I hope allies send a clear and positive message on the path to membership for Ukraine“, declared the Norwegian politician upon arrival at the meeting of the allied leaders.
Stoltenberg welcomed the attendance of the Ukrainian president at the NATO summit, but did not want to give details about the process of Ukraine’s entry into the Alliance. “NATO will send a strong, united and positive message about the way forward for Ukraine,” he simply stated.
An honor to welcome President @ZelenskyyUa to our #NATOSummit for the inaugural meeting of the NATO–Ukraine Council. Our 3-part support package means #Ukraine is closer to #BORN membership than ever before. Today we meet as equals; I look forward to the day we meet as Allies. pic.twitter.com/4w7zruztCb
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) July 12, 2023
He added that that will be the message not only regarding kyiv’s membership, but also in relation to “the most imminent task”, in reference to the military support of the allied countries to that former Soviet republic. “Unless we guarantee that Ukraine wins this war, unless we guarantee that Ukraine prevails as an independent and sovereign nation, there is no question to debate about membership“He reported and stressed that the priority issue is to ensure that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not win the war.
American stance
Biden has been in favor of simplifying procedures once the war is over. This would mean removing the so-called accession action plan (MAP) for Ukraine, which would mean that the Ukrainian government would not have to engage in a multi-year program to demonstrate that it has carried out the necessary military, economic and political reforms to join the military alliance.
This proposal was raised – at a general level – by Stoltenberg last Monday, so (due to the high weight of the United States in Alizana) it is very likely that it will finally go ahead.
