NATO will not take steps towards Ukraine accession at the Washington summit but there will be new language and more practical support

Follow live the latest news about the war in Ukraine

BRUSSELS, May 29. () –

NATO will not formally invite Ukraine to join the alliance at the leaders’ summit in Washington next July, although it is expected to agree on new language to refer to its membership aspirations as well as more practical support for kyiv. .

In a meeting with the media before the informal meeting of allied foreign ministers in Prague, the US ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, announced that the members of the military bloc are working on the Washington summit declaration that will have news on the Ukraine’s accession aspirations.

“It will not be exactly like last year’s language. It will have to be negotiated. There are some very important and useful ideas floating around the alliance at the moment, some interesting proposals,” he added, regarding the formula used by NATO to refer to the future entry of kyiv.

Last year at the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, NATO agreed to invite Ukraine when it meets security conditions and completes democratic and defense sector reforms. So the language chosen was that the step will come “when the allies agree and the conditions are met”, a formula that NATO will renew at the meeting in the United States.

Smith has also stressed that kyiv will receive a signal of support at the summit, through practical assistance measures. The allies will look for “ways to institutionalize part of the bilateral aid that has been provided to Ukraine and to integrate it into the NATO alliance,” he advanced, insisting that there must be greater coherence in military aid to Ukraine and guarantee a distribution adequate load throughout the alliance.

In this sense, another measure that the organization is considering is to designate a representative within NATO to coordinate and manage all the alliance’s efforts to help Ukraine. “Taking into account all the existing work within the alliance, it is worth asking if we need someone here to manage all these work streams,” said the North American ambassador in another measure that would mean building bridges with Ukraine with a view to its future entry.

Smith has also explained that NATO is studying creating a joint center with Ukraine to take more decisive steps in interoperability, following a roadmap with which to exchange information and practices from combats with Russia and the use of technology since the outbreak of the invasion in February 2022.