“It’s absurd.” Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyj was rather harsh in his preliminary review of the NATO summit’s conclusions. The Nato leaders did not agree on specific dates for when Ukraine can be invited into the world’s most powerful defense alliance, and Zelenskyy did not let them wonder what he thought about it when he arrived in the city. Since the outbreak of the war, President Zelenskyj has stated the country’s desire to become a member of NATO. Photo: Mindaugas Kulbis / AP The wording was understandable, said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre when he was interviewed by the Norwegian press on Tuesday. Zelenskyj is a man in a rather stressful situation. It is no wonder that he tries to exert moral pressure on the NATO countries to go further and faster. Satisfied in the end Nevertheless, the tone was quite different when Zelenskyj held a press conference together with the newly extended Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The President of Ukraine gave Stoltenberg a good hug, and a clear message to the world that he recognizes that what the NATO countries have now decided in Vilnius are concrete steps on the way to membership. Zelenskyy says he understands that Ukraine cannot become a member of NATO while the country is at war. Photo: PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP “When the allies agree and the conditions are met” Ukraine can become a member. Exactly what is needed for the NATO countries to agree and exactly which conditions are involved is still unclear – simply because the NATO countries have not agreed yet. It is still entirely possible to take Jens Stoltenberg at his word when he says that after the Vilnius summit, Ukraine is “closer to NATO than ever”. The new Ukraine-NATO Council, which met for the first time today, is one of the signs that the country is moving closer to NATO. The ongoing convergence of Ukraine’s defense with the demands placed on a NATO defense is another. A third is the removal of the so-called Membership Action Plan, a formal and structured way of assessing how far an aspiring member country has come in adapting to the alliance’s requirements. As long as the member states are going to demand reforms and adaptations anyway, it may seem like a rather theoretical “gift” to Ukraine and Zelenskyi. Although the topics at the summit have been heavy, the atmosphere has been good among the allies, says Anniken Huitfeldt. Photo: Nato Sources in Nato, on the other hand, describe it as a big step, and an exception to a way of structuring membership applications that until quite recently was seen as completely inevitable. Ukraine will not become a member of NATO until the war ends. And for the war to end, Ukraine must win it. This is still the message from an alliance that promises support as long as the support is needed. This also resulted in a long series of promises from individual member states about new weapons, financial support and training of fighter pilots. The G7 countries’ declaration of security pledges, massive arms deliveries, assistance and cooperation is an important part of the strategy: even when Ukraine is not a NATO member, they must be able to count on long-term, hard-hitting support. The G7 countries stood together on stage in Vilnius, and made assurances of long-term military support for Ukraine. Photo: Doug Mills / AFP Baltic idealism The summit took place in a city, a country and a region where it is clear that the war in Ukraine is not something that is happening far away. Ukrainian flags flew everywhere. The support concert for Ukraine, with Zelenskyj himself as the main attraction, drew thousands of spectators, many of them with blue and yellow flags over their shoulders. The Baltic countries were in advance promoters of NATO being even more unreserved in its promises to Ukraine. Other countries, with the USA and Germany in the first place, have chosen to be more cautious, a good distance on the way with Norway as a supporter, Jonas Gahr Støre told news. The heads of state of Turkey, Great Britain, the United States and NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg have all expressed their support for Ukraine during the two-day summit in Vilnius. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB A minister from a neighboring NATO country told us the next day, as a personal, unofficial sigh of relief, that he would have liked to see the alliance follow the Baltic line: It is not the case that a “responsible” line is to hold back, while an “idealistic” line is unrealistic. Sometimes it can be more dangerous not to go far enough, was the minister’s personal opinion. But the countries must agree, and the compromise shows, despite the disagreement, a united NATO, where support for Ukraine is clear and long-term. The NATO countries’ own defense capabilities are also being strengthened, with new regional defense plans covering the entire geographical area of the alliance, and a new command structure. A united NATO, led by Jens Stoltenberg, will support Ukraine until peace is secured. Photo: Pavel Golovkin / AP Erdogan show This year’s NATO summit began where last year’s meeting ended. Starring Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In Madrid last summer, Erdogan took charge by making sure he got the last press conference slot and thus also the last word. The promise that Sweden would be allowed to join NATO was not as watertight as one had got the impression after the jubilation earlier in the day. It depended on a number of conditions being met, the Turkish president could tell. The twelve months that followed have been spent by Sweden, Stoltenberg and the rest of the world in finding out what Erdogan actually demands, and how far they are willing to go to get him. Erdogan promised, after more than a year of blocking, to approve Sweden’s NATO application. Photo: Pavel Golovkin / AP The last input came the day before the NATO leaders met in Vilnius: Now it was Turkish EU membership that was highlighted as a condition for Turkey to welcome Sweden into NATO. It was a demand that fulfilled all expectations of Erdogan as a particularly cunning and rather chaotic negotiator. What on earth would Nato do with such a demand? The negotiations continued right up to Stoltenberg’s press conference on Monday. At one point, the Secretary-General sat alone with the Turkish President, to get him to promise ratification. It is undoubtedly a feather in Stoltenberg’s cap that this now seems to be going away. It is also an important part of the reason why the summit, despite disagreements and difficult compromises, must be able to be called “historic”. After talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Sweden and Turkey finally agreed on an agreement. Photo: Yves Herman / AP Nevertheless, again as the last speaker at the summit, Erdogan offered a small final greeting. At the press conference, he said that the Turkish parliament’s ratification will not happen until after the summer. And those months should not only be used for holidays, but to monitor whether Sweden fulfills everything the two countries have agreed on. In the end, there was no crystal clear agreement on what they had actually agreed on. A historic summit is over, but one of the challenges may soon prove to linger for quite some time after the leaders have left Vilnius.
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The NATO summit in Vilnius at the end of the road – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
