During a meeting of the leaders of Poland, France, and Germany, Polish President Andrzej Duda called for Ukraine’s admission into NATO. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed a preference to discuss security guarantees ahead of the alliance’s summit in July, Tagesschau reports.
“Ukraine is waiting for a clear signal, a clear prospect of joining,” Duda said, expressing hope that the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius in mid-July would offer Ukraine the “light at the end of the tunnel” it desires.
Macron and Scholz took a more cautious approach. Scholz assured that they intend to continue closely consulting each other on the subject of security guarantees for Ukraine. “Germany, France, and our American allies have consistently sought dialogue to prepare for such a step,” said Scholz. “We are continuing this very intensively.” Scholz insisted on the need for security guarantees “in a very concrete form.”
Macron stated that at the next meeting of the European Council, as well as at the NATO summit in Vilnius, the focus would be on “what the future of collective security can look like.” NATO would give Ukraine all the support “to which it is entitled,” Macron affirmed.
Both Macron and Scholz assured they intend to support Ukraine for as long as necessary. Scholz emphasized that the German government is doing everything possible to secure the production of ammunition in Europe and maintain and keep the weapons supplied by Germany operational.
The meeting of the Weimar Triangle countries took place on 12 June in Paris to discuss Ukraine’s accession to NATO. The “Weimar Triangle” (Committee for the Development of German-French-Polish Cooperation) is a consultative forum of Germany, Poland, and France. It was founded in 1991 on the initiative of the three countries’ foreign ministers. Its main task is to coordinate the foreign policy of the Triangle members in favor of pan-European integration.
On June 1, France called for a path to NATO membership for Ukraine, while Germany said that “obviously we cannot talk about accepting a new member in the midst of a war.”
On June 7, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said that NATO should develop security guarantees for Ukraine before it joins.
