NATO Summit: Sweden On Track, Ukraine On Hold

NATO Summit Wraps: Mixed Outcomes For Ukraine

The 2023 NATO Summit has wrapped up and there are a few key items that came out of the event. A major step was Turkey agreeing to support Sweden’s accession into the alliance which would make them the 32nd member after Finland joined this past March.

One of President Zelensky’s goals has been to press not just for eventual NATO membership but a clear timetable for that to happen and potentially even an expedited process. However, the session didn’t overtly move the ball forward in that direction, instead saying that the alliance will be in a position to extend an invitation when allies agree and conditions are met. If Ukraine was looking for a clear path forward, this didn’t clear up anything.

However, it does appear that NATO will remove the membership action plan requirement and Stoltenberg has reaffirmed that Ukraine will become a member of NATO.

Additionally, there was talk of potential security guarantees that could be granted to Ukraine outside of direct NATO membership. However, on that front it was rather generic as well with a statement that if Russia were to attack Ukraine again, after the war, that they would send “swift and sustained security assistance, modern military equipment across land, sea and air domains and economic assistance.”

That last portion reads as though NATO is signaling to Russia that even though Ukrainian NATO membership is not in the immediate future, western resolve is steady and they won’t be waited out.

https://apnews.com/article/nato-summit-vilnius-lithuania-ukraine-6eff9f614dd01746280e43f0473b1a26

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_217102.htm?selectedLocale=en