NATO ready to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia, but not membership

NATO leaders prepared to provide Ukraine with more military assistance for fighting Russia but only vague assurances of future membership as the alliances summit draws to a close on Wednesday reported the news agency APA draft agreement states that Ukraine can join NATO when allies agree and conditions are metAccording to AP the ambiguous outcome reflects the challenges of reaching a consensus among the alliances current members while the war continues and it is likely to leave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy unsatisfiedAlthough Zelenskyy planned to attend the summits final day he has been sharply critical of what he described as NATOs absurd reluctance to set a timeline for his countrys acceptance into the allianceIn essence Western countries are willing to keep sending weapons to help Ukraine do the job that NATO was designed to do hold the line against a Russian invasion but not allow Ukraine to join its ranks and benefit from its securityZelenskyy said in a Tuesday speech in a town square in Vilnius that he had faith in NATO but that he would like this faith to become confidence confidence in the decisions that we deserve all of us every soldier every citizen every mother every child Is that too much to ask he addedSymbols of support for Ukraine are common around the city where the countrys blueandyellow flags hang from buildings and are pasted inside windows One sign cursed Russian President Vladimir Putin Another urged NATO leaders to hurry up their assistance for UkraineHowever theres been more caution inside the summit itself especially from US President Joe Biden who has explicitly said he doesnt think Ukraine is ready to join NATO There are concerns that the countrys democracy is unstable and its corruption remains too deeply rootedIn addition Western nations fear sparking a wider conflict Several leaders from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said it was too risky to admit Ukraine during the warUnder Article 5 of the NATO charter members are obligated to defend each other from attack which could swiftly draw the US and other nations into direct fighting with Russia However 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 Ukraines NATO membership by prolonging the conflictWednesdays commitments were to include a new framework from Group of Seven nations acting on the margins of the summit that would provide for Ukraines longterm securityThe British foreign ministry said in a statement the G7 joint declaration would set out how allies will support Ukraine over the coming years to end the war and deter and respond to any future attack It is the first time that this many countries have agreed a comprehensive longterm security arrangement of this kind with another countryBritish Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement that supporting Ukraines progress 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 EuropeAlthough international summits are often tightly scripted this one has seesawed between conflict and compromise At first leaders appeared to be deadlocked over Swedens bid for membership in the alliance However Turkiye unexpectedly agreed to drop its objections 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 VilniusThis summit is already historic before it has started AP quoted NATO SecretaryGeneral Jens Stoltenberg as saying Jake Sullivan Bidens national security adviser told reporters that rumours of the death of NATOs unity were greatly exaggerated Erdogan has not commented publicly on the deal over Swedens membership even during a Tuesday evening meeting with Biden where Biden referenced the agreement you reached yesterdayHowever Erdogan appeared eager to develop his relationship with Biden He said previous meetings were mere warmups but now we are initiating a new processThe 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 Swedens membership in NATOAP