Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Bloomberg Television that NATO shouldn’t keep “the whole situation and Ukraine in limbo when it comes to membership.”
“We proceeded from the assumption that all conditions are already in place for the invitation to be extended here in Vilnius, while membership itself would take place when conditions allow. But we will keep working with allies on moving this process forward,” Kuleba said.
Kuleba also recognized that the decisions adopted in the Vilnius summit “make our path to NATO shorter,” although the allies “could have done it faster too.”
As was reported, NATO said it would invite Ukraine to join the Alliance when “Allies agree and conditions are met,” according to the NATO Vilnius Summit Communiqué issued on 11 July by NATO leaders. The Alliance reaffirmed that Ukraine’s future is in NATO, and said Ukraine moved beyond the Membership Action Plan, but the country still needs additional reforms. The declaration did not provide a timeline for Ukraine’s accession to NATO and clear conditions for its membership.
