US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said on Tuesday that she does not expect the alliance to extend an invitation to Ukraine for membership at a summit in Washington in July, Reuters reports.

“In terms of this summer’s summit, I don’t expect the alliance to send an invitation at this point,” Smith said in response to questions before a meeting of NATO defense ministers on Thursday.

In fighting the Russian invasion, Ukraine has made it clear that its goal is to become a member of the US-led military alliance.

“We have worked very hard since last year’s Vilnius summit to move to a series of steps to continue to help our friends in Ukraine with the necessary reforms in their own country to move closer to Euro-Atlantic integration,” he said. Smith Smith.

“And our primary focus remains on supporting them in their ongoing fight and making sure they can prevail on the battlefield.”

Kyiv and some of its NATO allies, especially in Eastern Europe, pressed for an invitation to join, even as they acknowledged that Ukraine could not join NATO while it was still at war.

At the summit in Lithuania last year, NATO leaders declared that Ukraine’s future is in the alliance, but did not invite or define a schedule for joining.

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