NATO summit: Zelensky calls for a “clear signal” on Ukraine’s membership

2023-07-11 04:56:02

He puts pressure. On the eve of the long-awaited NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked for a “clear signal” from Westerners on Ukraine’s membership. “Ukraine deserves to be part of the Alliance. Not now because now is war, but we need a clear signal and this signal is needed now,” he said in his daily video message on Telegram.

This summit will be held a little over a month after the start of a counter-offensive by Ukrainian forces on the front, with modest gains so far, due to a lack of aviation and artillery ammunition. .

Biden reste inflexible

After receiving Polish President Andrzej Duda on Sunday in Lutsk in western Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky said the two leaders had agreed to “work together to achieve the best possible result for Ukraine” at the summit. Poland is one of kyiv’s main supporters and believes that Ukraine must receive “security guarantees” from other NATO members, failing accelerated membership.

Both Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg have acknowledged that this prospect was unlikely before the end of the war with Russia. US President Joe Biden, who arrived in the UK on Sunday evening for a stopover before the summit, was adamant on the issue.

Erdogan in favor of Swedish membership

“I don’t think she is ready to be part of NATO”, he swept away in an interview with the American channel CNN about Ukraine, also stressing that there was no unanimity among the allies on the prospect of bringing Kiev “in the middle of a war”. “We would be at war with Russia if that were the case,” he warned.

The Democrat, on the other hand, hoped to take advantage of the summit to convince Turkey to accept Sweden’s candidacy for NATO. He probably won. According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday gave his “agreement to support Sweden’s membership” in the Alliance.