At their meeting in Vilnius, NATO leaders agreed that Ukraine's future lies within the organisation, but they refrained from issuing Kyiv the formal invitation or timeline for membership that the nation had requested.
Hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised the organisation for failing to set a schedule for his country's membership as "absurd," NATO leaders announced on Tuesday that they would permit Ukraine to join the alliance "when allies agree and conditions are met."
“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.
Leaders said the alliance would support Kyiv in moving forward with additional democratic and security sector reforms as well as with military interoperability, though they did not identify the requirements Ukraine has to meet.
Another decision they made was to create the NATO-Ukraine Council, which would be "a new joint body where Allies and Ukraine sit as equal members to advance political dialogue, engagement, cooperation, and Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO."
Hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky criticised the organisation for failing to set a schedule for his country's membership as "absurd," NATO leaders announced on Tuesday that they would permit Ukraine to join the alliance "when allies agree and conditions are met."
“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.
Leaders said the alliance would support Kyiv in moving forward with additional democratic and security sector reforms as well as with military interoperability, though they did not identify the requirements Ukraine has to meet.
Another decision they made was to create the NATO-Ukraine Council, which would be "a new joint body where Allies and Ukraine sit as equal members to advance political dialogue, engagement, cooperation, and Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO."
