The leaders of NATO member-states agreed at the summit in Vilnius that Ukraine’s future lies within the Alliance, but Kiev was not given an invitation or a timetable for NATO membership, which Ukraine sought.

At the same time, NATO lifted the obligation for Ukraine to follow the Accession Action Plan, effectively removing an obstacle in the way of Kiev joining the North Atlantic Alliance.

Ukraine’s future lies in NATO, according to the declaration agreed yesterday by member-states’ leaders, adding that it will be able to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when the allies agree and the conditions are met.

While the leaders did not specify the conditions Ukraine must meet, they emphasized that the Alliance would help Kiev make progress on military interoperability as well as additional reforms in the democracy and security sectors.

It is the first time they use the word “invitation”, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, emphasized, when asked about the strong dissatisfaction expressed a few hours earlier about the attitude of the Alliance. After the NATO declaration, Zelensky stated that NATO will make Ukraine safer and Ukraine will make NATO stronger.

Stoltenberg also said that the Allies also pledged to invest at least 2% of their GDP each year in military spending. Eleven allies have reached or surpassed that mark. It is expected that this number will increase significantly next year.

NATO now has 31 members after Finland’s accession in spring 2023.

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