Ukraine will not be able to join NATO as long as the war continues, the head of the North Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

• “I think everyone understood that joining NATO in the midst of war is not on the agenda,” Stoltenberg said at an event organized by the German Marshall Fund in Brussels.
• “The problem is what happens after the end of the war,” added the NATO Secretary General, quoted by Reuters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi is expected to attend the next NATO summit in Vilnius in July, which he says will be a good time to make a political statement regarding the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO.

However, recently the members of the Western military alliance, including the US and Germany, have made it clear behind closed doors that they do not want to take on any commitments that would significantly exceed the NATO declaration from the 2008 summit, the agency writes. German press DPA. At that time, the heads of state and government agreed that Ukraine and Georgia should join NATO, but there was neither a timetable nor a road map. At the time, the U.S. demanded that NATO provide Ukraine with a concrete timetable for accession, the so-called Accession Action Plan, but France and Germany rejected the request, fearing that such an approach could provoke Russia.

“There are two different points of view within the Alliance”

On Wednesday, Stoltenberg admitted that the opinions of the Alliance members regarding the accession of Ukraine were divided.

“There are two different points of view on this issue within the Alliance,” admitted Jens Stoltenberg, reminding that “in NATO, decisions are made on the basis of consensus.”

“During the day, I will hold several phone conversations about the way forward and how to respond to Ukraine’s ambitions regarding its accession to NATO,” he said.

Zelensky asked for an invitation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently called on NATO to pave the way for his country to join the alliance at the upcoming summit in July, saying Ukraine should receive a “deserved invitation.” The Ukrainian military, Zelenskyi claimed, contributes more to Euro-Atlantic security than others.

“I am grateful for the invitation to participate in the summit, but it is also important that Ukraine receives a corresponding invitation. There is no objective obstacle to making a political decision to invite Ukraine to the alliance, and now, when the majority of people in NATO countries and the majority of Ukrainians support NATO membership, the time has come for appropriate decisions,” the President said. of Ukraine.

• VIDEO Zelensky asked Stoltenberg, who is in Kyiv, about the timetable for joining NATO

Allies’ reservations about a specific accession plan

But opponents of a concrete membership plan say that goal is unrealistic now and could distract from far more important and immediate military support for Ukraine as it defends itself against a Russian invasion, some diplomats said.

In addition, there is the perceived risk that a new push for NATO could give Russia an argument for a more aggressive war.

On the occasion of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s visit to Kyiv in April, Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov said, citing Agerpres, that Ukraine’s accession to the North Atlantic Alliance would mean “a serious, significant danger for our country.”