Ukraine's Foreign Ministry Explained What Ukraine Expects from NATO Summit

Kyiv will consider the NATO summit in Vilnius successful if the Alliance takes a decisive step toward defining a clear algorithm for Ukraine's accession.

This was stated by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yevhen Perebyinis at the conference "Ukraine and NATO ahead of the Vilnius summit" in Kyiv, according to the reporter of "European Pravda".

The Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out that it would be a great disappointment if the Vilnius summit of 2023 repeated the level of disappointment of the Bucharest summit in 2008.

"The Vilnius summit can be considered successful if the allies take a decisive step from vague formulations about Ukraine's NATO membership to a clear algorithm that shows how and when it will happen," said Perebyinis.

Realising that Ukraine's NATO accession is irreversible can be a factor in de-escalation, according to Perebyinis, as ultimately Russia will lose the formal pretext for war.

"In fact, Ukraine is already a NATO member and effectively defends the eastern flank. To finally acknowledge this reality, we need to abandon the myths that Russia has spread among NATO members for years, explaining that Ukraine's membership in NATO is the darkest of red lines. This will allow us to overcome Russian blackmail," noted Perebyinis.

He believes that Ukraine's accession to NATO will happen as quickly as it did before with Bulgaria, the Baltic countries, or Finland.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba recently assured that the NATO summit will take a step towards Ukraine's membership, and this issue has already been resolved.

At the July NATO summit in Vilnius, Ukraine seeks to obtain clear formulations regarding the prospects of joining the North Atlantic Alliance.

Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he understands the impossibility of Ukraine joining NATO during the war, but he does not see the point in participating in the NATO summit in Vilnius if Ukraine will not receive specific signals about when it can join the Alliance.