NATO describes Ukraine's path to membership as "irreversible" in draft communiqué - CNN
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine's path to NATO membership is described as "irreversible" in a draft joint communiqué.
Ukraine's path to NATO membership is called "irreversible" in a draft joint communiqué of the alliance, CNN reported on Monday, citing three sources, UNN reported.
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How strong of a guarantee to give Ukraine regarding its future membership in NATO has been a key source of debate among the alliance's 32 members ahead of this week's summit in Washington, CNN reported earlier. The draft may still change before the final version is adopted, but the presence of the "irreversibility" wording will send a significant signal to Kyiv and Moscow, the newspaper notes.
"One source, a U.S. official, said the White House supports the use of the word in the final communiqué, as long as the document also reaffirms that Ukraine's work on democratic reforms must continue. The official said that the final version is expected to contain this wording," the publication notes.
While many Europeans have emphasized the need for strong statements about Ukraine's possible future in the alliance, US and German officials have suggested describing a "bridge" to Ukraine's membership in NATO, the publication points out.
However, as reportedly cited by a European diplomat, officials also emphasized the importance of "tangible measures" to support Ukraine's ongoing struggle with Russia. Ukrainian parliament speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said at an event on Monday that it was not just about language, but about bringing Ukraine closer to NATO.
A senior US administration official said on Friday that the alliance will make "important new announcements on how we are increasing military, political and financial support for Ukraine" as part of Ukraine's "bridge" to NATO.
U.S. officials on Monday publicly refused to discuss the details of the joint communiqué ahead of the summit, which begins on Tuesday.
"Much attention is rightly being paid to what Allies will say about Ukraine's membership path in the summit declaration. The wording will be clear and strong. It will recognize Ukraine's vital ongoing reform efforts and demonstrate the alliance's support for Ukraine on its path to NATO membership," Michael Carpenter, Senior Advisor for European Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, said at a briefing on Monday.
A senior U.S. administration official said on Friday that what they "described in terms of the transition to membership and the outcomes that NATO will make public for Ukraine is quite substantial.
"We're not talking about some kind of plan for how they're going to get from here to there. We're talking about supporting the whole command in Wiesbaden, and we're going to look at how we do these different parts that I mentioned earlier - training, coordination, equipping, coordination, logistics, force development. This is a very serious effort to bring Ukraine to a position, as I said earlier, where it will be ready to assume its roles and responsibilities in the alliance from day one," the official said.
"I'll let the Ukrainians speak for themselves, but I think they understand the value of what NATO will do for this," they said.
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