Ukraine's Defense Minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, hopes that the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius in July will outline a clearer perspective on Ukraine's membership, as well as military support to end the war with Russia. Reznikov stated this in a video message to participants of a discussion within the Atlantic Council analytical center on Friday.
The Defense Minister told the attendees about seven points he believes should be present in the final document of the Vilnius NATO summit, emphasizing a clearer membership perspective. "The Alliance must offer Ukraine a clear membership algorithm by the end of 2023," the minister said. Reznikov added that NATO should provide security guarantees before Ukraine joins the Alliance.
Additionally, Reznikov expects NATO leaders to support the "peace formula" first voiced by the President of Ukraine at the G20 summit in November.
Among other expectations, the Defense Minister mentioned NATO's continued commitment to meet Ukraine's urgent defense needs, including air defense, long-range artillery, ammunition, tanks, and combat aircraft, maintaining this support until the full restoration of Ukraine's sovereignty.
Reznikov also hopes that the NATO summit will adopt a crisis consultation mechanism with Ukraine within the framework of Article 4 of the North Atlantic Statute and create a NATO-Ukraine Council format "32" instead of the current "31+1" in the Ukraine-NATO Commission.
