The leaders of nine NATO member states in Central and Eastern Europe issued a joint statement on Sunday supporting Ukraine’s path to joining the alliance.
The presidents of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, North Macedonia and Slovakia said on Sunday they “support the decision of the 2008 Bucharest NATO summit on the future membership of Ukraine.”
At its 2008 summit, NATO allies said they “welcomed” Ukraine and Georgia’s desire to join the alliance, but no definite timetable was announced.
Mihailo Podoljak, Advisor Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskytweeted on Sunday, saying 10 NATO member states, including several countries that once belonged to the Soviet Union, are supporting Ukraine’s bid for membership.
“We appreciate the leadership and responsibility,” Podoljak tweeted. “History is being made today.”
Zelensky said on Friday that Kyiv had “accelerated” its application for NATO membership after Russia annexed four Ukrainian territories.
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“In effect, we have already proven our compatibility with allied standards. They are real for Ukraine, real in all aspects of our interaction with the battlefield,” Zelensky said. . “We trust each other, we help each other, we protect each other. This is an alliance.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declined to comment on Ukraine’s path to membership, telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that any decision “must be made by consensus.” said the alliance’s “top priority” was to help Ukraine.
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White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Friday that the United States supports NATO’s open-door policy to countries that want to join.
“The best way to help Ukraine now is through practical, on-the-ground assistance in Ukraine, and the Brussels process should be addressed at another time,” Sullivan said at a press conference. It’s an opinion,” he said. meeting.