By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL- Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky made it very clear in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that there’s no reason for him to attend the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania unless the Alliance signals that Ukraine’s NATO membership is on track. As Zelensky commented: “If we are not acknowledged and given a signal in Vilnius, I believe there is no point for Ukraine to be at this summit.” Zelensky, who was specifically invited to attend the summit, heard positive words from EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Ukraine’s path to NATO in 2022. Zelensky has been lobbying NATO member states to receive a definite promise that Ukraine’s path to NATO will happen sooner rather than later. Zelensky’s remarks on that issue clearly display his exasperation: “We understand that we will not be in NATO or in any powerful security alliance during this war. But tell me, how many {Ukrainian} lives is one sentence at the Vilnius Summit worth?”
The elephant in the room that hangs over Kyiv is NATO’s fear of Russia’s wrath were Ukraine to be fast-tracked into the defense alliance. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials expressed their hope there will be a succinct nod that puts them firmly on the membership path to NATO at the summit which runs from July 11-12. Observers have noted that so far NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has appeared non-committal where Ukraine’s membership in NATO is concerned. President Macron of France has urged NATO to show good faith to Ukraine by providing “a path towards membership.” UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak echoed Macron, emphasizing that Ukraine’s “rightful place” is in the alliance but said nothing about supporting an accession roadmap.
The UK prime minister pointed out that a main focus right now is to make sure Ukraine gets all the appropriate military support it needs for the counteroffensive Zelensky said is necessary to thwart Russia’s full-scale invasion and give Ukraine a victory. In his interview with WSJ, Zelensky said his forces are prepared for the counteroffensive and added he believes “we will succeed.” No time line for how long the offensive would take was given but Zelensky reiterated that his Western allies need to maintain their solidarity for Ukraine. Zelensky added that Russian President Vladimir Putin “must be afraid of the strength of the world.”
