At an upcoming NATO summit, NATO members must discuss Ukraine’s path to membership if the US-led alliance wants to maintain its credibility, experts cited by CNN say.

“No one expects Ukraine to be invited to join NATO in Vilnius,” said Christopher Skaluba, director of the Transatlantic Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council, an independent think tank.

But the success of the summit will depend on whether the allies find a way to make progress in handing over to Ukraine the conditions it must meet and the timetable for accession, he added.

“It has to be something measurable. There are some criteria, schedule, things that Ukraine must fulfill,” he said.

Many allies support the move to make progress on the 2008 Bucharest Declaration, in which NATO first welcomed Ukraine’s desire to join the alliance, but according to John Herbst, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, the delay appears to be happening in Washington.

“The unity of the alliance is important. The White House ducked behind it to get the least ambitious outcome, even though I suspect there’s probably a solid majority of allies who want something more ambitious than that right now,” he said.

While Herbst said he hopes NATO will issue a joint statement on Ukraine’s possible succession, he isn’t betting on it.

Skaluba says he fears that the lack of consensus on the issue “will start to signal concern” that the solidarity we’ve seen for Ukraine over the past year and a half is actually less strong.

Zelensky said that he will go to the NATO summit only if the leaders show “courage”

Ukraine insists on an invitation to start the process of joining NATO at the summit of the Western military alliance next month, Sky News reports.

Now the president’s adviser has said that Volodymyr Zelenskyi will not come unless the leaders show “courage” and give a clear signal that the process can begin.

Kyiv has admitted that it cannot join NATO while the war continues, but wants to start the process.

“Now this request is on the table of the leaders of NATO allies,” said senior diplomatic adviser Ihot Zhovka.

“The Vilnius summit would be a very good start to respond to this demand. And by response, we mean an invitation to join, which is only the first step,” says the official.

Ukraine’s allies remain divided over how soon it should join NATO, with some wary of any moves that could bring the alliance closer to war with Russia.

But Kyiv says its fight against the Russian invasion proves it is worthy of NATO membership.

Zelensk said there was “no point” in going to the summit unless he was given a “signal” at the meeting – and his absence would overshadow any show of Western unity at the summit.

“If there is no result at the Vilnius summit, then he has no reason and no time to go,” Zhovkva said.

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