Ukraine's hopes for a more concrete prospect of joining NATO may still be dashed.
This was reported to the German Press Agency (DPA).
Yes, such members of the Alliance as the USA and Germany have recently made it clear behind closed doors that they do not want to take on any commitments that would go beyond the vague NATO declaration of 2008.
In it, the then heads of state and government agreed that Ukraine and Georgia should join NATO. However, there were no specific terms or schedule.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyі recently called on NATO to clear the way for Ukraine to join the Alliance at the next summit in July.
He explained that hardly anyone is currently making a greater contribution to Euro-Atlantic security than Ukrainian soldiers. Therefore, his country did everything to ensure that Kyiv's request was satisfied.
Zelenskyі receives support for his demands from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, in particular Lithuania. However, it is still highly unlikely that they will be able to convince NATO partners such as the US to change course. According to diplomats, opponents of the specific prospect of accession explain their position by the fact that this goal is not yet realistic and can distract Ukraine's much more important support. In addition, there is a risk that new commitments to NATO could give Russia arguments for a more aggressive war.
According to the diplomats, work is currently underway on a package of support for Ukraine to join NATO, which was already announced by the Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg. In addition, it is about offering Ukraine the opportunity to hold negotiations on even closer cooperation in the format of the Ukraine-NATO Council. One senior diplomat recently said it could strengthen the "sense of partnership" between NATO and Ukraine and make a real difference.
According to information from NATO circles, real movement in the negotiations regarding the prospects of Ukraine's accession to the Alliance is likely to occur only when Ukraine succeeds in the war with Russia. Then the NATO countries will not have to fear that, having adopted Ukraine, they will become direct participants in the war.
Stoltenberg recently indirectly made it impossible for Ukraine to join during the war. He noted that NATO membership requires Ukraine to survive the war as an independent state. "If Ukraine does not establish itself as a sovereign independent state in Europe, then there is no point in discussing membership," he said recently on the sidelines of a meeting of the international contact group for the coordination of military aid to Ukraine.