On October 2, the Presidents of nine Central and Eastern European NATO Member States condemned the Russian military aggression against Ukraine and supported Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO in a joint statement.
“We reiterate our support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We do not recognize and will never recognize Russian attempts to annex any Ukrainian territory,” it says.
The Presidents of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Montenegro, and Slovakia demanded immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from all the occupied territories of Ukraine and urged the Allies to substantially increase their military aid to Ukraine.
Together with the Presidents of 🇱🇻🇪🇪🇵🇱🇸🇰🇷🇴🇨🇿🇲🇪🇲🇰, we:
– Support Ukraine's sovereignty& territorial integrity
– Support 🇺🇦 in its defense against Russia's invasion
– Firmly stand behind 🇺🇦 future #NATO membership
– Call for accountability of war criminals.https://t.co/KySAG9Cuxb pic.twitter.com/SDOrqpkRFo— Gitanas Nausėda (@GitanasNauseda) October 2, 2022
In addition, the presidents said they “firmly stand behind the 2008 Bucharest NATO Summit decision concerning Ukraine’s future membership.”
Ukraine applied for fast-track NATO membership on 30 September.
The application was a surprise for the Biden administration, and Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the United States House of Representatives, “stopped short of backing Ukraine’s request for an ‘accelerated accession’,” Politico reported.
Canada has also stated that it supports Ukraine’s NATO membership.
NATO is already paying dearly for its hestitation on Ukraine