Ukraine should receive an official invitation to join NATO either at the Vilnius Summit or at least at the Washington Summit in 2024. Such an invitation would be a signal to both Ukraine and Moscow that there is no basis for their imperial ambitions, Ukraine has left the Russian orbit.
Former Lithuanian Prime Minister and member of the European Parliament Andrius Kubilius said this in a commentary for Guildhall.
“At the Vilnius summit, or at least next year’s Washington summit, Ukraine should receive an official invitation to join NATO. Such an invitation would be the best guarantee for Ukraine. It is debatable when this membership could take place, whether after the war or after the fulfillment of some other special arrangements. But the most important thing is to give Ukraine an invitation, as was done with Sweden and Finland, and then formal procedures will follow. Without this invitation, all these declarations that Ukraine will one day become a member of NATO will resemble the Bucharest Summit in 2008,” said the MEP.
“The official invitation will be a great signal not only for Ukraine, but also for Russia, the Kremlin and Russian society. It’s a very simple signal – forget your imperial desires to bring Ukraine back into your arms. Ukraine is no more, Ukraine is in the community of the West, and therefore continuing the war against Ukraine is continuing the madness that costs Ukraine and Russia itself a lot,” summed up Andrius Kubilius.
Recall that on the eve of the Vilnius NATO Summit, the Deputy Speaker of the British Parliament, Ser Roger Gayle, also said that the Vilnius NATO Summit should pave the concrete path to Ukraine’s NATO membership
Earlier, the German Bundestag called for the MAP and NATO accession schedule to be handed over to Ukraine at the Vilnius summit. CDU/CSU MP and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee Roderich Kiesewetter said that countries supporting Ukraine should stop just expressing regrets in response to Russia’s new war crimes, a forceful response against Russia is needed. The NATO membership plan and the timetable for joining the alliance, which Ukraine has already received at the Vilnius summit, should be such an answer.
Also in the Swedish parliament, Magnus Jacobson, a member of the coalition Christian Democratic Party, said that the NATO summit in Vilnius should not end with words, Ukraine must receive guarantees that it will become a member of the alliance after winning the war.
The North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) summit in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, will take place on July 11-12.
