According to sources, during the meeting with Biden, Stoltenberg offered to recognize that Ukraine has made progress on the way to membership in the Alliance.
US President Joe Biden supports Ukraine's accession to NATO under a simplified procedure after the end of the war. Axios reported this on June 16, citing two sources familiar with the situation.
According to the interlocutors, in order to join the Alliance, Ukraine will not have to go through the Membership Action Plan.
The publication notes that granting Ukraine NATO membership now would actually mean the Alliance joining the war against the aggressor country of the Russian Federation.
"Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were among those who did not want to go beyond the commitments made in 2008, according to which Ukraine would one day become a member of the Alliance. However, several NATO allies in Eastern Europe supported President Zelenskyi's calls and demanded from Biden to agree to demonstrate that Ukraine will join the Alliance as soon as possible," the message reads.
According to sources, during the meeting with Biden, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg offered to recognize that Ukraine has made progress on the way to membership in the Alliance and does not need to go through the MAP, as other NATO member states from Eastern Europe did. Axios notes that this process could take decades.
We will remind that Ukraine intensified cooperation with NATO in 2014 against the background of Russia's occupation of Crimea and the armed conflict in Donbas. The course for joining the Alliance is fixed in the Constitution of Ukraine.
In 2018, NATO recognized Ukraine as a candidate country for membership in the Alliance, and in 2020, Ukraine acquired the status of a partner with enhanced opportunities.
On June 14, 2021, a NATO summit was held in Brussels, the final communique of which stated that the Alliance supports Ukraine's accession to NATO.
On September 30, 2022 - after the president of the aggressor country of Russia, Volodymyr Putin, announced the annexation of the occupied territory of Ukraine - President Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced that Ukraine would submit an application to NATO under an accelerated procedure.
On November 30, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that Ukraine's victory should be a precondition for the start of negotiations on Ukraine's membership in NATO, and the Alliance members are helping her in this.
On June 1, 2023, on the sidelines of the summit of the European Political Community in Moldova, Zelenskyi emphasized the need for the Alliance member countries to define a clear algorithm for Ukraine's movement towards joining NATO. "Specific decisions regarding Ukraine's further progress towards membership and the security of our country for the period before joining the Alliance are what will allow us to consider the Vilnius summit a success," the president said.
The President's Office announced on June 10 that 20 Alliance members already supported Ukraine's future accession to NATO.
In 2023, Zelenskyi also stressed that Ukraine should receive effective security guarantees even before joining NATO.
