Vilnius, Lithuania – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders yesterday launched a new relations forum with Ukraine on the last day of the military alliance’s summit in Lithuania, at which the G7 promised Kiev military aid. in the long term to fight Russia, after President Volodimir Zelensky criticized his allies for delaying his country’s NATO membership.
US President Joe Biden and the other members of the alliance met with Zelensky at the new NATO-Ukraine Council, a permanent body for the 31 members of NATO and Ukraine to hold consultations and convene meetings in emergency situations.
The idea is part of NATO’s efforts to be as close to Ukraine as possible without incorporating it, because its founding treaty has a clause that states that all its members must come to the defense of anyone else under attack, so the alliance should declare war on Russia if Ukraine were added before that conflict ends.
In a statement summarizing the first day of discussions in Vilnius on Tuesday, NATO leaders said Ukraine would be allowed to enter “when allies agree and conditions are met.” The decision disappointed Zelensky, who said it was “absurd” that a military alliance whose goal is to contain Russia did not yet have a timetable for Ukraine’s entry.
In another strong nod to Ukraine, the G7 leaders met Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, and announced a long-term military support plan that includes the delivery of war equipment to the forces. Ukrainians, who have been resisting a Russian invasion for 500 days.
In a statement, the G7 said yesterday that it will work with Ukraine “on specific, bilateral and long-term security agreements and commitments to ensure a sustainable force capable of defending Ukraine and deterring Russian aggression.”
This includes “security assistance and modern military equipment, in land, air and maritime domains, prioritizing air defense, artillery and long-range devices, armored vehicles and other key capabilities,” the note added.
At the meeting, Biden said that the plan of the seven powers – the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada – will help Ukraine build a powerful defense device even if the country is not a member of the bloc. “We will help them build a strong and effective defense on land, sea and in the air,” Biden declared, adding that “Ukraine’s future lies in NATO.”
Zelensky called the G7 compromise an “important victory” for Ukraine’s security, although he made it clear that “the best guarantee of security for Ukraine is membership.”
Zelenski was more conciliatory yesterday than yesterday, and although he appreciated the G7 initiative, he once again regretted that NATO has not presented a schedule for his country’s entry.
“The results of the summit are good, but ideally there would be a formal invitation” to Ukraine to join NATO, Zelensky said at a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Expectation
Officials from the United States and Germany pointed out yesterday that the conditions for Ukraine’s entry into NATO not only concern military issues, but also reforms to protect democracy and the rule of law in the former Soviet republic, where corruption is a concern. for the West. “No country is exempt” from these conditions, said the head of the German government, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Zelensky, however, said that he hoped to join the alliance and that his country will do what is necessary to achieve it. “I am confident that after the war, Ukraine will be in NATO. We will do everything possible to make that happen,” Zelenski said alongside Stoltenberg.
In Russia, the government of President Vladimir Putin said it viewed the G7 announcements in Lithuania as a threat to its country. This compromise plan will undermine Russia’s security, and make Europe “much more dangerous for years and years,” said Dmitri Peskov, the spokesman for Putin and the Kremlin, who yesterday described the NATO summit as a “rendezvous anti-Russian”.
Germany announced yesterday that it would provide more tanks, Patriot missile defenses and also armored vehicles worth 700 million euros. France, meanwhile, announced that it was sending long-range Scalp-type missiles and a coalition of eleven nations said it will begin training Ukrainian pilots in the use of F-16 fighter jets starting in August.
The possible entry of Sweden into the alliance was also discussed at the Vilnius summit, after Stoltenberg assured that the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, promised him and the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, that he would send “as soon as possible” to the Turkish Parliament the Swedish Accession Protocol for a vote.
The agreement, the result of intense negotiations, leaves the door open for a new expansion of the alliance in northern Europe, after Finland became NATO’s 31st member last April.
As part of the deal, Stoltenberg said Erdogan promised to speed up parliamentary treatment of Sweden’s NATO membership law. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, another holdout, is expected to make the same commitment.
Erdogan clarified yesterday that his country’s Parliament will not be able to ratify this accession before October due to the summer recess of Congress.
2023-07-13 03:07:12
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