‘No doubt’ Ukraine to join NATO after war, says Pentagon chief
There is “no doubt” that Ukraine will join NATO once its war with Russia is over, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in an interview with CNN on July 13.
“We heard just about every country in the room say as much,” Austin said in Vilnius, Lithuania, following the NATO Summit.
He said that there is “still work to be done” in bringing Ukraine’s equipment and training up to NATO standards.
While “we are doing this work now as they fight this war,” Austin said, “there is more that will need to be done to ensure that they have a full complement of capabilities.”
Ukraine will not be able to join NATO as long as the war continues, but understands that accession will take place when it has secured its territory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on July 12.
NATO Summit in Vilnius – What is known
The summit in Vilnius brought together leaders from 31 NATO countries, including U.S. President Joe Biden, along with additional delegations from Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Ukraine, and Sweden (Turkey has finally agreed to unblock Sweden’s membership).
President Zelenskyy arrived in Vilnius on July 11, along with the First Lady, Olena Zelenska.
Ukraine hoped to receive a clear signal regarding the prospects for its future membership of the alliance.
On the eve of the summit, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that allies had agreed that Ukraine would join NATO in the future without a Membership Action Plan – the traditional process of accession for new members.
Although NATO member states on July 11 agreed on a unified communique concerning Ukraine’s membership in the alliance, they made no timeframe commitments as to when Kyiv might receive an invitation to join.
The communique noted that Ukraine would be invited to join the alliance once member states agree and all prerequisites have been satisfied – without specifying what those prerequisites are, exactly.
The document also remarked that the alliance would aid Ukraine in implementing reforms on its pathway to prospective membership.
Following the summit, Zelenskyy said that he was convinced that Ukraine would receive an invitation to become a NATO member after the end of the war.
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