A group of NATO countries may show a desire to send troops to Ukraine if member states, including the United States, do not provide tangible security guarantees to Kyiv at the alliance summit in Vilnius, former NATO Secretary General Anders Rasmussen said. Guardian.

Anders Fogh RasmussenPhoto: Raj Valley / Alamy / Profimedia Images

Rasmussen, who served as an official adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Ukraine’s place in the future European security architecture, visited Europe and Washington to gauge the mood ahead of the critical July 15 summit.

He also warned that even if a group of states provides security guarantees to Ukraine, others will not allow the question of Ukraine’s future accession to NATO to be excluded from the agenda in Vilnius.

Rasmussen made the remark as current NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said the issue of security guarantees would be on the agenda in Vilnius, but added that NATO – in accordance with Article 5 of the Washington Treaty – offers full security guarantees only to full members.

“We are considering a number of options to signal that Ukraine is moving forward in its relationship with NATO,” said US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith. (full on The Guardian)

President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Friday that he knows it is “impossible” for Ukraine to join NATO while Russia is waging war against his country, Reuters reported.

“But we are smart people and understand that we cannot involve any NATO country in the war,” Zelenskyy said. “And that is why we understand that we will not be members of NATO while this war continues. Not because we don’t want to, but because it’s impossible,” Zelensky explained.

The Kyiv leader has pushed for Ukraine to join NATO, but the allies are divided on how quickly that should happen. Western governments are wary of any moves that could bring NATO closer to war with Russia.

  • The main signal regarding Ukraine’s accession to NATO: “This path is open for them”
  • The Kremlin on the possible accession of Ukraine to NATO: “This is one of our main sources of irritation, it will be a problem for many, many years”

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