NATO should remove Ukraine’s membership action plan requirement: Stoltenberg
NATO allies should agree to remove the requirement of a membership action plan (MAP) for Ukraine to become a member of the alliance in the future, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said before the NATO summit.
“Ukraine has come a long way since we made the decision in 2008 that the next step would be a membership action plan. Ukraine is much closer to NATO, so I think the time has come to reflect that in NATO decisions,” Stoltenberg said.
“All put together, including that we’ll make clear that Ukraine will become a member, we’ll remove the membership action plan, (….) will send a very strong and positive message from NATO to Ukraine.”
Ukraine is following NATO summit closely: AJ Correspondent
Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Kyiv, said the events at the NATO summit in Lithuania are being closely followed in Ukraine.
“Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian government know there are differences about them becoming members and how fast that should take place. Zelenskyy, of course, wants to see it take place as soon as possible, as soon as the fighting finishes. He wants to see the whole process being fast-tracked,” McBride said.
“But there is some pushback among some NATO members who believe if they declare that membership is an automatically forgone conclusion, that will somehow provoke Russians into prolonging this war.”
McBride explained that what Ukraine expects from the summit is to become an almost “member in waiting”, which would give them a security guarantee.
“I think the Ukrainians are expecting to [also] hear about further packages of military aid being announced,” he added.
