Zelensky criticizes that conditions are raised for Ukraine's entry into NATO

It says that "it seems that there is no provision to invite Ukraine to NATO or to make it a member of the Alliance"

MADRID, 11 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, has criticized this Tuesday that NATO has raised a series of conditions in order to consider Kiev's candidacy to join the organization and has stressed that "it seems that there is no willingness to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make her a member of the Alliance."

"It is absurd and unprecedented that no timetable is set for Ukraine's invitation or accession while at the same time vague statements are being made about 'conditions' even for inviting Ukraine," Zelensky said, before noting that "This means that a window of opportunity is being left to haggle over Ukraine's NATO membership in negotiations with Russia."

Thus, he stressed that "for Russia this means motivation to continue its terrorism" and has stated that "uncertainty is weakness." "I will discuss it openly at the summit (of NATO in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius)," the Ukrainian president assured in a message posted through his account on the social network Twitter.

"We value our allies. We value our shared security and we always value open conversation. Ukraine will be represented at the NATO summit in Vilnius, because it is about respect, but also Ukraine deserves respect. Now, on the way to Vilnius, we have received signals that statements without Ukraine are being discussed," he concluded.

Zelensky's words came shortly after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that allied leaders would send a "clear and positive" message to Zelensky about the way forward for Ukraine in its aspirations to join NATO. . "I hope they agree on the need to bring Ukraine closer to NATO and withdraw the Membership Action Plan (MAP)," he argued.

Without wishing to elaborate on the points of the statement, Stoltenberg has assumed that the allies will withdraw the accession advisory program, a plan that offers assistance and practical support to candidate countries to join the bloc. In the case of Ukraine, the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the large-scale invasion of 2022 has led to maintaining a close relationship that makes this program lose some sense, for which he has pointed out that Ukraine's entry process "It will go from having two steps to just one."

Hours earlier, the US National Security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had indicated that the allies will give "a united and positive signal" about a path for Ukraine's entry into the Alliance during the summit, although he ruled out that it will entail " a calendar". "I can't put a schedule, I don't think that's going to come out of there," he asserted.

He also stressed that during the summit "the path for Ukraine's future accession to NATO will be discussed", before noting that Kiev "still has to take more steps on the path of reform" to be able to join the bloc. "From our perspective, it is the job of the alliance and Ukraine to prepare that path of reform and then for Ukraine to work on it," she concluded.