US Ambassador to NATO doesn't expect Ukraine to be invited to join NATO at Washington summit

US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith does not expect that Ukraine will be invited to join the North Atlantic Alliance at the summit in Washington this summer.

Source: Interfax-Ukraine, with reference to Smith at an online briefing with journalists on Tuesday, reported by European Pravda

Details: "As for the summit this summer, I don't expect the Alliance to issue an invitation at this stage," Smith said. 

She expects that the allies will instead be able to send a signal that the Alliance continues to move closer to Ukraine, and that "we are taking concrete steps to be a bridge between where we are now and full membership." 

"We very much hope that President Zelenskyy will be able to join us in person. And I think he will continue to hear about the unwavering unity and determination of the allies in supporting his country.

And we can, most importantly, send a signal to President Putin that in terms of our support for Ukraine, we are not going anywhere, we will all continue to support them (Ukrainians – ed.) for as long as it takes," she said.

Smith noted that at the NATO Summit in Vilnius last year, the allies made it very clear that Ukraine's future lies with NATO. 

"Since the Vilnius Summit, we have worked very hard to continue to help our friends in Ukraine with the necessary reforms within their own country to move forward with their integration into both the European Union and NATO.

And we continue to focus first and foremost on supporting them in their ongoing struggle and ensuring that they win on the battlefield," she added.

Background:

• UK NATO Ambassador David Quarrey said earlier that Ukraine should not expect significant progress on its NATO membership application at the upcoming NATO summit in Washington.
• Boris Ruge, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, also said that NATO members might not invite Ukraine to join the Alliance at the Washington summit.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that NATO countries should take a step towards Ukraine's membership at the summit in Washington in July 2024.

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