NATO head eyes ‘strong message’ on Ukraine membership

John Irish, Sabine Siebold and Steve Holland | July 11, 2023

Ukraine will get a “positive message on the path to membership”, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says, as leaders of the alliance meet to address the repercussions of Russia’s invasion that brought war to their doorstep.

“I expect allies will send a clear, united and positive message on the path towards membership for Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said as he arrived in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius to host a summit with leaders of NATO member countries.

Divisions among the Western military alliance’s 31 members on allowing Ukraine in mean there will not be a straightforward invitation for Kyiv to join, something the country’s Soviet-era overlord Moscow says would threaten its national security.

But Stoltenberg said Kyiv would get more military aid and an easing of formal conditions to join in a new format of co-operation with the alliance, with the so-called NATO-Ukraine Council due to hold its first session on Wednesday.

“I am confident it will be a positive and strong message on Ukraine and the path forward for membership,” Stoltenberg said.

United States National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the gathering would send a “positive signal” about Kyiv’s membership bid. 

Diplomats were upbeat as negotiators were drawing close to a final agreement.

The summit is also set to approve NATO’s first comprehensive plans since the end of the Cold War to defend against any attack from Russia.

Moscow criticised the two-day summit in advance. 

According to the RIA news agency, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova predicted it would be “a colourful spectacle in the worst traditions of Western manipulation”.

While NATO members agree Kyiv cannot join during the war, they have disagreed over how quickly it could happen afterwards and under what conditions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is due to attend the Vilnius gathering, has been pressing NATO to give his country a clear pathway to membership so it can join once the war is over.

NATO members in eastern Europe have backed Kyiv’s stance, arguing bringing Ukraine under NATO’s collective security umbrella is the best way to deter Russia from attacking again.

Countries such as the US and Germany have been more cautious, wary of any move they fear could draw NATO into a direct conflict with Russia and potentially spark a global war.

While the summit was due to focus on Ukraine, another country secured a breakthrough on its way to membership before the gathering began.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan late on Monday agreed to forward Sweden’s bid to join to his parliament for ratification.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 prompted Sweden – and its Nordic neighbour Finland – to abandon decades of military non-alignment and apply to join NATO.

Finland became NATO’s 31st member in April but Sweden’s accession has been held up by a dispute with Turkey.

Turkey had accused Sweden of not doing enough to crack down on militants Ankara sees as terrorists, mainly members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and the US.

But Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Erdogan agreed to further steps on Monday evening, including establishing a new “Security Compact” on fighting terrorism.

The US also promised to move forward with the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, Sullivan said, without giving any specific timing.

All members must agree to let a new country in and Hungary, which has also dragged its feet on Sweden, said on Tuesday its ratification of Stockholm’s membership was now a formality.