US President Joe Biden is under pressure from the discussion on accelerating Ukraine's membership in NATO. Some members of the military alliance want to set a timetable for Ukraine to join, but after the war ends. The New York Times writes about it.
As the publication notes, despite the fact that over the past 16 months, the US president has used every opportunity to emphasize NATO's unity with regard to Ukraine, on one key topic, Biden "appeared somewhat isolated within the alliance": "when and how Kyiv will join."
"Now a discussion has broken out among the allies, which puts pressure on Biden to support a much faster and more certain path to Ukraine's membership," the publication writes.
"Many allies, especially from countries bordering Russia, want to provide Ukraine with firm political commitments regarding membership ahead of next month's NATO summit in Vilnius," the newspaper writes. Some want a "timeline and specific goals" for true membership, but "only after the war ends," Biden administration officials say.
According to one high-ranking US official who takes an active part in the discussions, Ukraine's membership has become an "all-consuming debate" both in Europe and within the Biden administration.
"Only Germany has fully sided with Biden, although some of the other 29 allies have their own quiet doubts about Ukraine's readiness to fully join the Alliance - and about the risks that NATO countries could be directly involved in a conflict with Russia in the future," the report says. articles.
At the same time, the publication notes, several American officials, led by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, "seem to have taken the position that the Biden administration will be forced to be more specific about Ukraine's path to membership, even if it is not possible to agree on a date in the middle of the war. ".
U.S. officials say "there is no official White House proposal circulating to change the current U.S. position, although they expect one to emerge in the next few weeks." While Biden's White House does not like to discuss domestic policy negotiations, the newspaper writes, many details have been leaked in this case, including the argument that "Biden should be ahead of events, not catch up with the Europeans."
Ukraine's path to membership was expected to be central to Biden's meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
"Stoltenberg presented Biden with a compromise proposal in which NATO would agree that combat-tested Ukraine with NATO equipment and training would not need to go through the standard procedure for applicants for membership before it could join," the publication notes. referring to the words of a high-ranking US official.
It is also reported that in Vilnius, NATO will provide a series of commitments by member states to continue supplying Ukraine with weapons, ammunition and money in the medium term - regardless of the fate of the current counteroffensive or the election calendar.
It is also expected that NATO will raise the level of its relations with Ukraine from the Ukraine-NATO Commission, established in 1997, to the Ukraine-NATO Council, which means a higher level of interaction and integration.
On June 1, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that Ukraine expects an invitation to join NATO in the summer.
The Office of the President indicated that 20 member countries of the Alliance support Ukraine's accession to NATO.
