NATO summit poised to declare Ukraine's membership path as irreversible, sending strong message to Putin
A preliminary draft of the NATO joint communiqué, expected at the Washington summit, reportedly describes Ukraine's path to membership as "irreversible," CNN cites three informed sources.
The extent of guarantees to be provided to Ukraine regarding its membership in NATO has emerged as a key discussion point among the 32 alliance members ahead of the summit, which commences today.
While the text of the draft can still be modified, the presence of such a phrase would send a significant signal to both Kyiv and Moscow, the network points out.
An American official, one of CNN's sources, stated that the White House supports using the term "irreversible" in the final communiqué, provided the document also confirms Ukraine's continued progress on democratic reforms.
A senior US administration official said last Friday that the alliance would make "new important announcements on increasing military, political, and financial support for Ukraine from NATO" as part of building a "bridge to NATO" for Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier told Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Trudy Rubin that the upcoming 75th NATO anniversary summit, set to take place from July 9 to 11 in Washington, would not offer Ukraine a clear path to membership.
“We understand that the White House is not ready to extend an invitation to us," he sighed. "Unfortunately, this is a policy of ‘one step forward, two steps back’. If the United States is afraid of provoking Putin, and that's why we are not being invited, then we ask our strategic partners to provide us with what will protect us: Patriots, a substantial number of F-16s, and the ability to use weapons within Russia."
“If NATO is not ready to protect and admit us into the alliance," Zelensky firmly added, "then we will ask NATO to give us everything we need to protect ourselves."