VILNIUS — NATO allies are still negotiating how to address Ukraine’s demand for concrete progress on its membership application, the alliance’s secretary-general said Monday as diplomats raced to find a last-minute compromise.
Speaking as NATO leaders prepare to gather for a summit in Lithuania on Tuesday, Jens Stoltenberg said “consultations are going on” but that he is “confident that all allies will agree on a very clear message.”
He also put pressure on Turkey to lift its block on accepting Sweden as a member.
While all allies agree that Ukraine cannot join NATO while the war with Russia continues, there is more readiness by many allies to accept Ukraine into the fold once hostilities end. However, the U.S. and Germany have expressed caution about offering Kyiv a concrete path to membership.
“The time is not right at this summit for an invitation to Ukraine, for concrete steps toward membership. There is no consensus on this among the allies either,” said a senior German official, adding: “From our point of view, the focus should be on what will help Ukraine in a very concrete way now. … This signal will certainly come from the summit.”
In Vilnius, Stoltenberg noted that he had proposed a three-part package for Kyiv: helping Ukrainian forces transition to Western standards, establishing a new council for consultations with Kyiv and removing the need for a so-called Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, Kyiv upped public pressure on NATO allies to offer strong language in the summit’s communiqué, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba saying it was “the best moment to offer clarity on the invitation to Ukraine to become member.”
However, Kuleba was pleased about the possibility of dropping the MAP, saying: “I welcome this long-awaited decision that shortens our path to NATO.”
The MAP process involves military and political reforms for aspiring NATO members, and its removal would be a gesture to Kyiv — though Ukraine would still be expected to implement reforms.
Stoltenberg insisted that he believes allies will find a landing zone on language for Ukraine.
“No final decision has been made,” the secretary-general said, adding however that he is certain that allies will “have unity and a strong message on Ukraine” at this week’s summit.
The NATO chief also addressed the other big political drama hanging over the leaders’ summit: Turkey’s ongoing refusal to sign off on Sweden’s accession bid.
Ankara has held up Stockholm’s membership process for over a year, ostensibly over concerns about Kurdish groups in Sweden. But on Monday, before departing for Vilnius, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appeared to up the stakes, linking progress on the Swedish NATO bid to progress on Turkey’s long-stalled effort to join the EU.
The Turkish leader is scheduled to meet with Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Monday afternoon in Vilnius, as allies work to convince Ankara to agree to Swedish membership.
“I support Türkiye’s ambitions to become a member of the European Union,” Stoltenberg said when asked about the Turkish leader’s comments.
“At the same time, we need to remember that what we agreed in Madrid was a specific list of conditions that Sweden has to meet to be a full member of the alliance,” he said, “and Sweden has met these conditions.”
Hans von der Burchard contributed reporting.