Ukrainian Foreign Minister: NATO has relaxed its stance on Ukraine | NATO | Foreign Minister
According to Reuters on July 10th, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on the same day that NATO has decided not to demand Ukraine to comply with the NATO Member State Action Plan, which will shorten the process of Ukraine's accession to NATO.
The plan sets targets that need to be met before joining the military alliance of NATO, according to reports. The Kremlin responded on the 10th that Ukraine's accession to NATO will have very negative consequences for Europe's security architecture, and Russia will consider this measure a threat that requires a stern response.
On the eve of the NATO summit, Kuleba tweeted, "After intensive talks, NATO allies have reached a consensus to cancel the NATO Member Action Plan in Ukraine's acquisition of membership. I welcome this long-awaited decision, which will shorten our process of joining NATO."
Kuleba also said, "Now is also the best time to make a clear statement on inviting Ukraine to become a member state."
According to the report, Kiev hopes to receive a clear invitation to join NATO after the end of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and hopes to get security guarantees before that.
According to reports, before the summit, an increasing number of NATO member countries supported the UK's proposal to allow Kiev to skip the NATO Member Action Plan. This plan sets the political, economic, and military targets that candidate countries must meet, which other Eastern European countries had to meet before joining NATO.
According to the report, through this measure, NATO can not only issue a statement claiming that Ukraine will eventually become a member of NATO, as it did at the 2008 NATO summit, but also neither issue an actual invitation to Kiev nor propose a timetable for its accession to NATO.
According to reports, NATO will hold a summit in Lithuania from July 11th to 12th, aimed at demonstrating unity with Ukraine.