2023-07-11 11:02:00
White House: NATO allies will “send a united and positive signal” on Ukraine’s path to membership
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks to reporters during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Room at the White House. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden and NATO allies will “send a united and positive signal” on the path to Ukraine’s NATO membership at the Vilnius summit, the White House said, but declined to provide a specific timetable for accession.
The allies will “discuss Ukraine’s path to future NATO membership” during the three-day summit in Vilnius, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday, seeking to temper expectations.
“As President Biden pointed out, bringing Ukraine into the Alliance now while we are in Vilnius would drive NATO to war with Russia,” he said, later adding that Ukraine still “has more steps to take on its reform path” before to join the Alliance.
“But the allies will send a united and positive signal on Ukraine’s path to future alliance membership,” Sullivan said.
Still, Sullivan declined to predict a specific date for Ukraine to join the alliance during Tuesday’s briefing with reporters.
“I can’t put a schedule on it. I don’t think they’ll see that coming out of here,” she said. “From our perspective, it is the job of the alliance with Ukraine to chart that path of reform and then make Ukraine work towards it.”
Leaders in Vilnius, he said, “continue to discuss this morning the precise nature of the process regarding the Ukraine path,” which will be released as part of a statement on Wednesday.
In an interview with CNN ahead of the NATO summit last week, Biden acknowledged that he did not believe there would be “unanimity in NATO on whether or not to include Ukraine in the NATO family now, at this time, in the middle of a war,” he said, noting that NATO Article 5 would require NATO allies to defend Ukraine against Russia’s military invasion.
Biden will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Lithuania on Wednesday, where the two leaders “will discuss how the United States, along with our allies and partners, are prepared to make long-term commitments to help Ukraine defend itself now and deter future aggression,” Sullivan said.
“Look, if President Biden and President Zelensky are in the same city, they are going to meet,” he said.
Zelensky had previously said he does not plan to attend the summit “for fun” as he seeks a clearer path for his country to join the alliance along with security guarantees.
“The United States has been the primary partner in supporting Ukraine and President Zelensky in their courageous defense and that of the Ukrainian people of their homeland and in their ability to coordinate in all respects. Our military support, our economic support, the continued work on democratic reforms in Kyiv – President Biden will always seize that opportunity, and he looks forward to having a full conversation with President Zelensky on all those issues,” he said.
Throughout the summit, Sullivan said that “Ukraine will be a big focus,” with the NATO-Ukraine council meeting recently launched for the first time on Wednesday to discuss “a new package of increased support for Ukraine, look at the long-term needs Ukraine’s deadline and expand plans for Ukraine’s interoperability with NATO”.
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