On the first day of the summit in Vilnius, NATO declared its unwillingness to conflict with Russia
The first day of the NATO summit, scheduled for July 11-12, was held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, during which the countries of the alliance summed up the interim results. The participating countries made a number of important decisions for the bloc.
Thus, the bloc members agreed on defense investment goals of at least two percent of GDP, unanimously agreed to invite Ukraine to join the alliance, agreed to exempt Ukraine from the bloc’s membership action plan, and also declared no desire for confrontation with Russia.
According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the main goal of the two-day event is to increase the volume of military and financial assistance to Ukraine.
We will continue to help and increase our support and ensure that Ukraine is provided with weapons, ammunition, spare parts, training, maintenance
Membership of Ukraine in NATO
During the first day, the summit participants focused on the issue of conditions for Ukraine’s accession to the alliance. Stoltenberg proposed canceling for Kyiv a multi-year plan of action for NATO membership, which involves reforms in the field of defense, economy and politics.
I expect Allies to send a clear, unified and positive message on the path to membership for Ukraine
According to sources in the American leadership, the Secretary General’s proposal was supported by US President Joe Biden. At the same time, it is noted that from the American point of view, Kyiv’s entry into NATO will become an urgent issue only after the end of the Ukrainian conflict.
France and Britain also supported Ukraine’s invitation to NATO following the alliance’s summit in Vilnius. Paris and London called for the word “invitation” to be included in the final statement and to recognize that this would be a political, not a technical decision.
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Nevertheless, according to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, which posted a fragment of the current version of NATO’s final statement on Ukraine, the countries of the alliance did not give any specifics on joining or even inviting Kiev to the alliance. “The current version of the document states that the future of Ukraine is in NATO, such a promise was made at the summit in Bucharest back in 2008. But the plan for the time of entry is not indicated, ”the publication draws attention.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky reacted to the lack of clear deadlines for Kyiv to join the alliance.
Unprecedented and absurd – when there are no time frames for both the invitation (!), And for the membership of Ukraine; and when some strange wording about “conditions” is added instead, even for inviting Ukraine
According to NATO sources, the Ukrainian leader is engaged in “tough public diplomacy” aimed at encouraging a rewriting of the summit’s final declaration or communiqué before the July 12 close.
Russia’s reaction to the summit
The Kremlin shared its expectations from the summit in Vilnius. Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov indicated that the meeting will be held in a manner hostile to Russia. He noted that this is a summit of an association that has a pronounced concentrated anti-Russian character.
Russia is also perceived by them as an enemy, as an adversary, and it is in this vein that discussions will be conducted
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, described the course of the NATO summit with the words “it will get worse.” According to her, the alliance’s summit in Vilnius started already a failure.
Washington’s decision on cluster munitions, the public humiliation of Ukraine, the absence of any coherent concept of what is happening, which shocked even experienced US satellites, is the summit in Vilnius
The Russian side also reacted to the news that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to accept Sweden into the alliance. According to Peskov, if Stockholm joins the bloc, Russia’s reaction will be similar to the response to Finland joining the alliance. According to him, such a step will have negative consequences.
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