As the Nato’s two-day summit commenced in the Lithuania’s capital Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy criticised the members on a delayed membership of Kyiv in the US-led security organisation calling it “absurd”, as members are still exploring how to include the country into the family.
Zelenskiy, who will come to Vilnius during the summit, lashed out on some Nato leaders who are reluctant to provide clear timetable for Ukraine to join the alliance.
“Uncertainty is weakness. And I will openly discuss this at the summit,” Zelenskiy tweeted.
The alliance backs Ukraine in its battle against Rus-sia’s special military operation, but several members, notably US President Joe Biden, opposed giving Ukraine a timetable for membership.
Instead, the Vilnius summit is expected to produce more commitments on arms shipments and a reaf-firmation that Ukraine’s eventual place is within the alliance once the war is won.
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the G7 group of major industrialised economies would offer a package of support to kick in once “peace is obtained”.
Arriving at the talks, President Emmanuel Macron said France would join Britain in supplying long-range cruise missiles to allow Ukraine to strike Rus-sian targets in depth.
But all this is unlikely to appease Zelensky whose forces have launched a counteroffensive to reclaim Russian-occupied territory at a cost of accelerating casualties.
“It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to Nato nor to make it a member of the alliance,” he said, citing “signals that certain wording is being discussed without Ukraine.”
“This means that a window of opportunity is being left to bargain Ukraine’s membership in Nato in negotiations with Russia. And for Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror.”
But if Russia was encouraged by the tenor of the debate in Vilnius, it did not say so, instead denounc-ing what it dubbed “the strong anti-Russian charac-ter” of the meeting.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that Russia’s security could be jeopardised by Sweden’s imminent arrival in the alliance, and warned France over the delivery of SCALP missiles.
“From our point of view, this decision is a mistake with consequences for the Ukrainian side, because this will of course force us to take countermeasures,” Peskov said.
The fury emanating from Moscow and Kyiv stood in stark contrast to the message to Ukraine from Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, buoyed by Turkey’s decision to lift a veto on Sweden’s mem-bership. “We will send a clear message, a positive message on the path forward. The text in the communique will be made public within hours,” he declared. German Patriot missile systems and French fighter jets were guarding the skies as the Nato leaders gathered in the Lithuanian capital. —AFP
