Kiev says at least 15 NATO members ready to support Ukraine’s accession

Moscow, June 26 Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said on Monday that at least 15 NATO member countries were expected to support Kiev’s possible accession to the alliance during the Vilnius summit scheduled for July 11-12.
“If we judge by a 30-point scale or by a 31-point scale, there are at least 15 points from those countries which understand the need for such a decision. This is not a question of whether they support Ukraine or not — all countries support Ukraine, all countries have made unprecedented historical and political decisions,” Stefanishyna was quoted as saying by Ukrainian newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnia.
She added that “the overwhelming majority” of European NATO member states backed Ukraine’s possible membership in the alliance because the move was “a security guarantee.”
Last week, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said that the allies in the run-up to the Vilnius summit were not talking about sending a formal invitation to Ukraine to join the bloc of 31-nations. The NATO chief reiterated that it was impossible to give a precise date for when Ukraine would join the alliance, with Kiev’s membership not to be discussed until the military conflict with Russia was over.
The allies agreed at the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest that Ukraine would become a NATO member in future, but they have repeatedly refused to offer it a timeline with specific dates by which it can join the alliance, despite pleas from Kiev. Ukraine applied for accelerated NATO membership in September 2022 following the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.