US State Department comments on Ukraine's desire to join NATO

The US Department of State has said that Ukraine's accession to NATO is not expected to be considered at this year's summit, and is likely to take place "after the war".

Source: US State Department representative Daniel Cisek, in a comment to Suspilne, Ukraine's public broadcaster 

Quote: "NATO members know and understand that Ukrainians want to become a NATO member immediately and as soon as possible. Frankly, this is not expected to happen at the NATO summit this year... probably after the war."

Details: He said that this year the North Atlantic Alliance turns 75 years old and that "the Alliance has been getting stronger lately." In particular, this is influenced by enlargement – namely, Finland's accession in April 2023 and the final steps towards Sweden's accession.

"This means that NATO is actually bigger and stronger than it has been in 75 years. This is also an important issue for the relationship between NATO and Ukraine," said Cisek.

He noted that there are more and more conflicts in the world, so there are more challenges. However, it can be seen that despite the differences among NATO members, in the end, the Alliance's decision remains unanimous on Ukraine's accession.

As an example, Cisek cited last year's NATO summit in Vilnius, where all members reiterated that "Ukraine has a place in NATO".

He also said that the Senate is expected to continue working together to implement reforms in Ukraine. The top priority now is to provide assistance to defend it against Russian aggression.

Background:

• The NATO summit will be held on 11-12 July in Vilnius.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he did not want to go to the NATO summit in Vilnius "for fun" and expected Ukraine to receive an invitation to join the Alliance and security guarantees until it joins.

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