Ukraine urges NATO to issue membership invitation next week, Reuters reports

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha asked his NATO counterparts to invite Ukraine to join the alliance during a meeting in Brussels next week, Reuters reported on Nov. 29, citing a letter received.

"I urge you to endorse the decision to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance as one of the outcomes of the NATO Foreign Ministerial Meeting on Dec. 3-4," Sybiha wrote.

Kyiv submitted its application to join NATO in September 2022, and in July 2024, the alliance affirmed Ukraine's "irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership" — although Ukraine has not received any definitive news about its future accession.

According to Sybiha, a NATO invitation will become "the Allies' adequate response to Russia's constant escalation of the war it has unleashed."

He mentioned "tens of thousands" of North Korean soldiers involved in the full-scale war and a recent attack against Ukraine with Oreshnik, Russia's new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).

"We believe that the invitation should be extended at this stage," the minister wrote.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has repeatedly called on partners to issue a membership invitation to Kyiv, said that Ukraine will join NATO only after Russia's full-scale war ends.

However, inviting Kyiv to the alliance now would demonstrate to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he failed to achieve one of his main goals — to prevent Kyiv from joining NATO, Reuters reported, citing the letter.

In mid-October, Zelensky unveiled his five-point victory plan, which includes Kyiv's invitation to join NATO placed at the top of the list. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said in October that the alliance does not currently have such plans.

Some commitments from NATO summit in July remain unfulfilled, Zelensky says

Key commitments from NATO’s July summit in Washington, including air defense systems and other military support, have not yet been fully implemented, President Volodymyr Zelensky told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Nov. 27.

The Kyiv IndependentSonya Bandouil

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