NATO countries should discuss under what conditions to invite Ukraine to NATO membership, in response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s victory plan, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said today, quoted by Reuters.
This week, Zelensky presented his five-point plan to the general public for the first time, which includes a call to immediately invite Ukraine to join NATO.
NATO has said that Ukraine will one day become a member of the alliance, but added that Kiev cannot join while it is at war because it could lead to direct conflict between NATO and Russia.
Alliance leaders have so far avoided giving a direct response to Zelensky’s new call for an invitation to NATO.
Breckelmans, whose country is among NATO’s 32 members, said there were “very different opinions” within the alliance on the issue of the invitation to Ukraine.
In order for the necessary consensus to be reached, allies must agree on clear criteria that Ukraine must meet in order to be invited, as well as formulate other criteria by which it can later become a member of NATO. pointed out the Dutch minister.
In response to a question about what conditions Ukraine will have to meet, Brekelmans said that one of them is the fight against corruption, BTA writes.
“If you want to modernize the Armed Forces of Ukraine and have the involvement of other countries, then I think there should also be an assessment of the progress made by the Ukrainians in this regard,” the minister said.