The countries on NATO’s eastern flank are pushing for a faster entry route for Ukraine, Politico notes.
A group of Western allies in NATO is in “last-minute” talks to finalize a declaration on security assurances for Ukraine ahead of the Vilnius summit. Politico reports this with reference to anonymous officials and calls these negotiations “crazy and advanced.”
The United States, Britain, France and Germany have been discussing this with Ukraine for weeks, and have also reached out to other NATO, EU and G7 allies. The idea is to create an “umbrella” for all countries willing to provide permanent military assistance to Ukraine, even if the details vary from country to country.
The effort is part of broader negotiations within NATO and among several groups of countries on how Western allies should show long-term support for Ukraine, media outlets said.
Many allies within the Alliance believe that Ukraine can only join NATO after the end of the war, the newspaper adds.
The largest states of the Alliance, in this regard, are working on the question of what temporary security obligations they can give to Ukraine. At the same time, the countries of NATO’s eastern flank insist that Ukraine get a faster path of entry, even despite the current hostilities.
The media claims, citing sources, that the goal of Western states is to present their framework program “umbrellas” at the annual NATO summit.
It should be noted that at present Ukraine’s accession to NATO is supported by about three-quarters of the members of the Alliance – 23 countries.
Recall that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on US leader Joe Biden to invite Ukraine to NATO now, even if it can only become a member of the Alliance after the end of the war with Russia.
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