summit
Selenskyj wants security guarantees on the way to NATO
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj on the sidelines of the NATO summit. photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
NATO has given Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia, hopes of admission, but has made a formal invitation subject to conditions. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also has demands.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants security guarantees for his country on the way to the Nato. He wants to “fight” for this, said Zelenskyj on Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius during a brief appearance in front of journalists.
Before upcoming talks with the heads of state and government of the alliance, he named a total of three of his own priorities. “The first is new shipments of arms to support our forces on the battlefield,” he said. He also wants to talk about the invitation to join NATO and clarify the conditions for this. He understands that an invitation can be made if the security situation allows it. As a further priority he named the security guarantees.
Duda: Experienced Ukrainians would be good reinforcements
In the view of Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, a future admission of Ukraine to NATO would bring the western military alliance battle-hardened troops and an enormous expansion of territory. This would also strengthen Poland, said Duda on Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. “Today we are the flank of NATO, but once Ukraine – which I hope – is accepted into NATO, this flank will shift at least partly to the east.” Ukraine is already the buffer zone separating Poland from the threat from Russia. Duda emphasized that a concrete accession date for Ukraine was not possible as long as fighting was still going on there.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been fighting for months for his country’s formal invitation to join the Western Defense Alliance. However, NATO attaches conditions to such an invitation to the country attacked by Russia. A declaration by the 31 member states adopted in Vilnius on Tuesday said: “The future of Ukraine is in NATO.” An invitation is only possible “if the allies agree and the requirements are met”. Reforms “in the area of democracy and the security sector” are cited as examples.