Zelensky slams NATO over no clear path to membership, despite Biden unity pitch

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky aggressively lashed out at NATO leaders gathered in Vilnius on Tuesday, calling out an as-yet-unpublished statement on its membership prospects and the “absurd” process that produced it.

Ukrainian officials have said they realize they will not immediately be invited to join the alliance at this summit but hoped for a clear pathway or timeline to be established in writing that would give them confidence that they would soon be invited. Some NATO policymakers said that Zelensky was taking advantage of the chance to maximize pressure on the discussion to push far as possible on membership promises before the language was set to be published.

For weeks now, NATO country diplomats have been trying to find a way to signal support for Ukraine without actually offering them membership — a delicate and fraught balancing act.Ukraine and some European allies have pushed hard for NATO to go beyond its 2008 promise that the country will join the alliance at an unspecified future date, but the United States, Germany and others remain wary of setting out a timeline.

Sullivan said the summit would mark the progress that Ukraine has made toward achieving the changes necessary for NATO membership. Other leaders also indicated that the summit would reinforce the idea that Ukraine’s accession to the bloc was a matter of when, not if.

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