Vilnius (Lithuania), July 11: NATO leaders agreed Tuesday to allow Ukraine to join “when allies agree and conditions are met,” the head of the military alliance said, hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted the organization’s failure to set a timetable for his country as “absurd.” “We reaffirmed Ukraine will become a member of NATO and agreed to remove the requirement for a membership action plan,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters, referring to a key step in joining the alliance.
“This will change Ukraine’s membership path from a two-step path to a one-step path,” he said.
Although many NATO members have funneled arms and ammunition to Zelenskyy’s forces, there is no consensus among the 31 allies for admitting Ukraine into NATO’s ranks.
Instead, the alliance leaders decided to remove obstacles on Ukraine’s membership path so that it can join more quickly once the war with Russia is over.
Zelenskyy pushed back sharply against the decision.
“It’s unprecedented and absurd when a time frame is set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership,” Zelenskyy tweeted as he headed to the summit. “While at the same time, vague wording about conditions’ is added even for inviting Ukraine.
“It seems there is no readiness to invite Ukraine to NATO or to make it a member of the Alliance.” (AP)
