NATO is building bridge to Ukraine's membership in Alliance - US Ambassador

According to Ukrinform's own correspondent, US Permanent Representative to NATO Julian Smith said this on Thursday, answering questions from The Washington Post during a discussion of NATO's priorities in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

They stated that they are trying to build a bridge to membership, even though Ukraine will not be invited to join the Alliance in July this year. However, they are bringing it closer to the Alliance by focusing on interoperability and modernization, and by ensuring the necessary coordination.

According to Smith, the summit "will see new efforts and new initiatives launched", which will be discussed with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

She explained the reasons why Ukraine will not receive an invitation: "It would be an extremely difficult situation if we were to accept a new member into NATO while its borders are actually being disputed," she said. "So right now we are focused on helping Ukraine to drive Russia off its territory and end this war. That is our top priority at the moment."

Secondly, she added, before joining the Alliance, any candidate must implement a number of reforms necessary for membership. 

Smith said that Ukraine has done an incredible thing by reforming during a full-scale war. At the same time, she noted that some progress has been made in recent months, especially on transparency and accountability.

However, NATO believes that "Ukraine still has work to do on this front," the US ambassador stressed. 

As Ukrinform reported, a NATO summit will be held in Washington on 9-11 July, which, according to the State Department, should highlight opportunities for Ukraine's full integration into Western structures, create a direct and effective bridge to its membership in the Alliance, and discuss ways for Ukraine to succeed on the battlefield.