On NATO’s 75th birthday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced plans to ‘build a bridge’ toward Ukraine’s potential membership in the defensive alliance.
NATO member states gathered at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels on Thursday to celebrate its 75th anniversary. Among them was U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who, like others, took the opportunity to address renewed Russian aggression and the potential inclusion of Ukraine among its members. Blinken reiterated the stance, echoed by NATO leaders in recent years, that ‘Ukraine will become a member of NATO’.
What he left unsaid, however, was the conditions that generally come with the statement, that this membership would be when Ukraine is in a fit state to join, including not being occupied by a foreign power.
This is what he said:
…the support for Ukraine, the determination of every country represented here at NATO remains rock solid. We will do everything we can, allies will do everything they can, to ensure Ukraine has what it needs to continue to deal with Russia’s ongoing aggression… Ukraine will become a member of NATO.
Our purpose at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership, and to create a clear pathway for Ukraine moving forward… we will see very strong support for Ukraine moving forward with its relationship going forwards with NATO.
But we are equally focussed as I said on the immediate, and on Ukraine’s needs today, tomorrow, the day after to help it withstand this ongoing aggression from Russia.
This comes after numerous remarks made by U.S. President Biden and NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg last year, asserting that “Allies agree that Ukraine will become a member of NATO.” However, the reality is more complex, as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz elaborated in great detail, stating that Ukraine does not currently meet the criteria for membership.
This is what he said in 2023: “It is also clear that we then have to discuss which security guarantees can be given in a post-war situation. But we are far from there yet. Now we are concentrating on what is coming up… NATO’s criteria include a whole series of conditions that Ukraine cannot currently meet.”
However, efforts to expedite Ukraine’s induction into NATO continued behind closed doors. In response to Blinken’s remarks today, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba disclosed that the alliance is progressing with the next steps toward membership. He expressed gratitude to Blinken for the “strong, encouraging messages” and stated in Brussels:
…it is up to allies themselves to decide on the form and the content towards the next step of Ukraine’s membership in NATO. I understand a decision has been taken today to task the military part of the alliance of designing what that next step may be. We will be looking forward to the outcome. Of course we beleive Ukraine deserves to be a member of NATO and that this should happen sooner rather than later.
Although Ukraine may still have a journey ahead before formally joining NATO, individual members are forging ahead with the creation of ‘NATO-lite’ partnerships with Ukraine. They are doing so by entering into 10-year treaties with Kyiv, pledging continued funding, support, and military aid in case of another Russian invasion during the agreement period. Just yesterday, Finland became the eighth country to sign such a ‘NATO-lite’ agreement with Ukraine, following the lead of the United Kingdom in January, with Germany, France, Denmark, Canada, Italy, and the Netherlands also signing similar treaties.
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