NATO officials said the alliance will offer Ukraine a new headquarters to manage its military aid at the upcoming 75th anniversary summit in Washington. This is an assurance of the Alliance’s long-term commitment to the security of the country, which was announced as a “bridge” to Kyiv’s possible membership. That is, Kyiv will not receive membership negotiations at the next NATO summit, but the alliance will announce a structure for long-term aid coordination. This is reported in the New York Times.
The publication’s analyst Steven Erlanger also notes that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, along with some Central European countries, fervently hoped that his country would be invited to NATO to start negotiations on membership in the summit, which will last from July 9 to 11. Instead, the Alliance will announce that it will agree to create a mission in Germany that will coordinate all assistance to Ukraine in the long term. The move should send a powerful signal of allied commitment to both Kiev and Moscow, which hopes the West will tire of supporting the war.
“Because the mission will take place under the auspices of NATO, it is planned even if Donald J. Trump, a sharp critic of the Alliance and aid to Ukraine, wins the post of US president in November.
The Biden administration and NATO officials floated the idea to promise something serious to Kyiv at the summit, even as they say the time is not right for Ukraine to join. It’s not just that the country is still at war, and this could make NATO an active participant in hostilities. President Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Ukraine should implement important reforms to reduce corruption and improve democracy and the rule of law.”, – believes Steven Erlanger.
