Ukraine’s Satisfaction with New Military Support and Security Guarantees from NATO Summit in Vilnius

Jul 12, 2023 at 2:53 PMUpdate: an hour ago

Although Ukraine was not invited to join NATO, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is satisfied with the new military support and security guarantees he was promised at the NATO summit in Vilnius.

Earlier, Zelensky was disappointed because his country had not received a concrete invitation to join NATO. He thought that was “absurd” and “weak”. But he is happy with other commitments that Ukraine has received. “We can say that the results of the summit are good,” he said on the second and last day of the summit in Lithuania. Although an invitation would have been “optimal” according to him.

Zelensky is pleased with the security guarantees announced on Wednesday by seven of Ukraine’s major allies. They must ensure that the country can defend itself as long as it is not yet a member of NATO.

The so-called G7, which includes the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan, present a “framework for security arrangements” with Kyiv. They should help to strengthen Ukraine so that it can independently defend itself against Russia.

Within those agreements, allies of Ukraine can make their own commitments to strengthen the country. For example, the Netherlands has already announced that it wants to help the country with F-16s and Patriot anti-aircraft guns.

“Security guarantees are so important to our people. Not instead of NATO, but on our path to joining the alliance,” Zelensky said. He said the guarantees are a “major success” for his country.

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No concrete path to NATO membership

NATO member states issued a statement on Ukrainian NATO membership at the alliance’s annual summit on Tuesday. They declared that Ukraine’s “future lies with NATO”. Ukraine may also skip a step on the way to a membership application. Earlier, Finland and Sweden also waived that so-called Member Action Plan (MAP).

NATO’s commitment didn’t get any more concrete than that. Some member states, such as the US and Germany, warned that speeding up Ukraine’s entry into NATO could lead to NATO’s direct military involvement in the war. A majority of NATO countries agree that the war must end first.

There are also concerns about Ukraine that are not about the war. US President Joe Biden already announced before the summit that Ukraine is not yet ready for membership. According to him, it must first democratize more and fight corruption better.

Much to Ukraine’s disappointment, the Vilnius summit did not produce a clear list of areas for improvement and it remains unclear what the timeline for an invitation and membership will look like.

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2023-07-12 12:53:00
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