VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) \u2014 NATO leaders gathered Wednesday to launch a highly symbolic new forum for ties with Ukraine, after committing to provide the country with more military assistance for fighting Russia but only vague assurances of future membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the new NATO-Ukraine Council, a permanent body where the 31 allies and Ukraine can hold consultations and call for meetings in emergency situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The setting is part of NATO\u2019s effort to bring Ukraine as close as possible to the military alliance without actually joining it. On Tuesday, the leaders said in their communique summarizing the summit\u2019s conclusions that Ukraine can join \u201cwhen allies agree and conditions are met.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToday we meet as equals,\u201d NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday at a joint news conference with Zelenskyy. \u201cI look forward to the day we meet as allies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ambiguous plan for Ukraine\u2019s future membership reflects the challenges of reaching consensus among the alliance\u2019s current members while the war continues, and has frustrated Zelenskyy even as he expressed appreciation for military hardware being promised by Group of Seven industrial nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe results of the summit are good, but if there were an invitation, that would be ideal,\u201d Zelenskyy said, through a translator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite his disappointment, the Ukrainian leader was more conciliatory on Wednesday than the previous day, when he harshly criticized the lack of a timeline for membership as \u201cunprecedented and absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNATO needs us just as we need NATO,\u201d he said alongside Stoltenberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s future membership was the most divisive and emotionally charged issue at this year\u2019s summit. In essence, Western countries are willing to keep sending weapons to help Ukraine do the job that NATO was designed to do \u2014 hold the line against a Russian invasion \u2014 but not allow Ukraine to join its ranks and benefit from its security during the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have to stay outside of this war but be able to support Ukraine. We managed that very delicate balancing act for the last 17 months. It\u2019s to the benefit of everyone that we maintain that balancing act,\u201d Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, whose country lies on NATO\u2019s eastern flank and has a long, troubled history with Russia, said he would have preferred more for Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere will always be a difference of flavor of how fast you would want to go,\u201d he said. However, Karins added, \u201cat the end of it, what everyone gets, including Ukraine, and what Moscow sees is we are all very united.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amanda Sloat, senior director of European affairs for the U.S. National Security Council, defended the summit\u2019s decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would agree that the communique is unprecedented, but I see that in a positive way,\u201d she told reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sloat noted that Ukraine will not need to submit a \u201cmembership action plan\u201d as it seeks to join NATO, although she said \u201cthere are still governance and security sector reforms that are going to be required.\u201d The action plan is usually a key step in the process that involves advice and assistance for countries seeking to join.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Symbols of support for Ukraine are common around Vilnius, where the country\u2019s blue-and-yellow flags hang from buildings and are pasted inside windows. One sign cursed Russian President Vladimir Putin. Another urged NATO leaders to \u201churry up\u201d their assistance for Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, there\u2019s been more caution inside the summit itself, especially from Biden, who has explicitly said he doesn\u2019t think Ukraine is ready to join NATO. There are concerns that the country\u2019s democracy is unstable and its corruption remains too deeply rooted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under Article 5 of the NATO charter, members are obligated to defend each other from attack, which could swiftly draw the U.S. and other nations into direct fighting with Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Defining an end to hostilities is no easy task. Officials have declined to define the goal, which could suggest a negotiated ceasefire or Ukraine reclaiming all occupied territory. Either way, Putin would essentially have veto power over Ukraine\u2019s NATO membership by prolonging the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wednesday\u2019s commitments will include a new G7 framework that would provide for Ukraine\u2019s long-term security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The British foreign ministry said the G7 would \u201cset out how allies will support Ukraine over the coming years to end the war and deter and respond to any future attack.\u201d The ministry added that the framework marks the first time that this many countries have agreed to a \u201ccomprehensive long-term security arrangement of this kind with another country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement that supporting Ukraine\u2019s \u201cprogress on the pathway to NATO membership, coupled with formal, multilateral, and bilateral agreements and the overwhelming support of NATO members will send a strong signal to President Putin and return peace to Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sloat said the commitments will show Russia \u201cthat time is not on its side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moscow reacted harshly to the G7 plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe consider this extremely ill-judged and potentially very dangerous,\u201d Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He added that \u201cby providing security guarantees to Ukraine, they\u2019re infringing on Russia\u2019s security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although international summits are often tightly scripted, this one has seesawed between conflict and compromise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first leaders appeared to be deadlocked over Sweden\u2019s bid for membership in the alliance. However, Turkey unexpectedly agreed to drop its objections on Monday, the night before the summit formally began. The deal led to boasts of success from leaders who were eager for a display of solidarity in Vilnius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis summit is already historic before it has started,\u201d Stoltenberg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Erdogan has not commented publicly on the deal, over Sweden\u2019s membership, even during a Tuesday meeting with Biden where Biden referenced \u201cthe agreement you reached yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Erdogan appeared eager to develop his relationship with Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Turkish president has been seeking advanced American fighter jets and a path toward membership in the European Union. The White House has expressed support for both, but publicly insisted that the issues were not related to Sweden\u2019s membership in NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
___<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Associated Press writers Karl Ritter and Liudas Dapkus contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the results of the summit are good but an invitation for membership would be ideal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":107273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,23,12,26,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[7037],"class_list":["post-74422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"DM26C7TSGZGABMX7HDLTG3QY7E","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2023\/07\/12\/nato-deepens-ukraine-ties-but-doesnt-set-clear-path-for-membership\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n