Introduction

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in a statement released early Thursday that the NATO summit laid a security foundation for Ukraine that had not been there before and set it on the path to joining the alliance.

“It is very important. For the first time in the years of our independence, there is a security basis for Ukraine’s application to join the alliance,” Zelensky said in his nightly video message.

Security Guarantees and Ukraine’s Membership

“These are real security guarantees, backed up by the seven largest democracies in the world. We have never had such a security base, and it is at the level of the Big Seven,” he added.

Zelenskiy also confirmed statements he made at the Lithuanian summit, in which he said: “We have eliminated any doubts or ambiguities about whether Ukraine will join the alliance or not. She will join.”

Provide long-term protection

The member states of the world’s most powerful military bloc offered the possibility of long-term protection for Ukraine a day after the President’s denunciation. The Ukrainian refused to extend an invitation to his country to join the alliance or provide a timetable for doing so, calling the rejection “absurd.”

Ukraine insists on accelerating its entry into the alliance after the start of the Russian military operation in February 2022.

Instead, the Group of Seven Major Industrialized Nations announced a framework of bilateral talks to provide military and financial support, as well as intelligence, and pledged to take immediate steps if Russia attacks Ukraine again.

The G7 includes the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

Military Equipment

The UK, France, Germany and the United States have been in talks with Kiev for weeks over a broad international support structure that includes state-of-the-art advanced military equipment such as combat aircraft, training, intelligence sharing and electronic defence.

In return, Ukraine promises good governance, which includes judicial and economic reforms and increased transparency.

Also on Wednesday, the first meeting of the new NATO-Ukraine Council, a new format designed to deepen cooperation between Kiev and the 31-country alliance, took place.