NATO leaders gave the clearest sign yet that Ukraine will one day be a part of the world’s most powerful military alliance, with Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg telling reporters at NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington Wednesday that Kyiv’s acceptance into the club is now “not a question of if, but when.”
The summit’s official declaration, which the Biden administration and other top NATO powers had been reluctant to make, could spark a fierce reaction in Moscow — President Vladimir Putin launched his 2022 invasion of his smaller neighbor in part to block forever the prospect of Ukraine joining the Western alliance.
“As Ukraine continues its vital reforms, we will continue to support them on the irreversible path to NATO membership,” Mr. Stoltenberg said after a day of meetings with President Biden and leaders of the other 31 NATO member countries gathered in Washington this week. “The work we are doing together now will ensure that when the time is right, Ukraine can join without delay. It is not a question of if, but when.”
“In this dangerous world, friends and partners are more important than ever,” he added.
The question of Ukraine’s future — and of NATO support as Russian forces have made small but steady progress in recent months — has dominated the three-day summit.
Mr. Biden hopes to use the high-profile diplomacy of the summit to address mounting questions of his physical and mental stamina and has scheduled a rare solo press conference Thursday as the summit wraps up.
While the use of the term “irreversible” appears to insure that Kyiv will become part of the alliance after it meets required democratic, economic and security reforms, the move falls short of an immediate NATO membership offer that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pushing for. Neither does the declaration detail the specific steps that Ukraine must accomplish before it can become part of NATO.
“We reaffirm that we will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are met,” the statement said. “The summit decisions by NATO and the NATO-Ukraine Council, combined with allies’ ongoing work, constitute a bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO.”
Mr. Stoltenberg said the NATO leaders had agreed on a financial package for Ukraine as well as an organizational restructuring, seen partly as a way to preserve the alliance’s institutional support for Ukraine even if Mr. Biden loses to Republican rival former President Donald Trump in November. NATO’s European command will take over the oversight of international security assistance to Kyiv, Mr. Stoltenberg announced, under a command led by a three-star general and hundreds of dedicated personnel in Germany and across Eastern Europe.
The summit communique declared that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” adding that alliance members “will continue to support it on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.”
But some analysts said NATO leaders still were pulling their punches.
Giedrimas Jeglinskas, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former deputy defense minister in Lithuania, said NATO must provide Ukraine with a “credible” path to membership.
“Ukraine’s long-term security is impossible without membership in the world’s most powerful military alliance, while Europe’s security cannot be guaranteed without Ukraine in NATO,” he said. “Statements from leaders of NATO member states that they will do ‘whatever it takes’ to support Kyiv are no longer sufficient. Real steps to absorb Ukraine into the NATO family are needed.”
The communique also took a surprisingly blunt tone in criticizing China, which the U.S. government has accused of helping support Russia’s defense industry even as Beijing insists it is neutral in the war and has even offered its own vague peace plan for a cease-fire.
The NATO leaders on Wednesday criticized China as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine, expressing at the same time concerns over China’s rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal and its capabilities in space.
“We call on the [People’s Republic of China], as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with a particular responsibility to uphold the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter, to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort,” the summit document read.
Building up NATO
Earlier in the day, Mr. Stoltenberg, who is stepping down soon after a decade in the top NATO job, said the alliance isn’t ignoring its own security needs.
Allies are providing forces to NATO’s command at a scale not seen in decades. More than 500,000 military personnel are in high readiness throughout Europe. Plans also include integrating new ballistic missile defense sites in Poland into NATO’s missile control system, Mr. Stoltenberg noted.
“The most important thing is that we now see that allies are stepping up when it comes to defense investments,” he said.
Only three NATO countries were spending at least 2% of their gross domestic product on the military in 2014 when the allies agreed that should be the bare minimum. This year, 23 member states will hit that mark, Mr. Stoltenberg said.
“This makes a big difference and demonstrates that allies are taking security extremely seriously,” he said. “Those allies that are not yet there plan to be at 2% soon.”
Wednesday was the first full working day for NATO leaders gathered in Washington, and it included the debut on the international stage of new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The onetime human rights lawyer told fellow NATO leaders his new Labor government would continue the strong support for Ukraine that London had provided under the previous Conservative government.
Mr. Starmer had meetings with Mr. Biden and Mr. Zelenskyy, reaffirming to both his strong support for Ukraine against Russia. NATO is “clear-eyed about the threat of Russian aggression,” Mr. Starmer told the Ukrainian leader, while revealing his government has given Kyiv a long-sought green light to use British Storm Shadow missiles, with a range of 155 miles, on targets inside Russian territory.
British press reports said Mr. Starmer was presenting to Mr. Biden a jersey from his favorite Arsenal soccer team during their one-on-one meeting.
Shoring up production
NATO countries were moving to shore up their weapons production capabilities as a hedge against the uncertain U.S. presidential election in November, signing a nearly $700 million contract for more Stinger missiles and making pledges to boost their own defense production. Ukraine also announced the opening of a small government defense office in Washington as it monitors the U.S. campaign debate over the war.
Mr. Stoltenberg told reporters he expects the alliance to agree to a “substantial package” for Ukraine that will include a new military command to provide security assistance and training. Also, Kyiv will receive immediate military support, including air defense systems.
Several NATO states are signing bilateral security agreements with Ukraine: Norway separately announced it was making six of the Nordic nation’s F-16 fighter jets available to the Ukrainian military by the end of the year.
“These elements constitute a strong bridge for Ukraine to membership in the alliance,” Mr. Stoltenberg said. “I’m confident that the allies will recommit themselves to Ukraine becoming a member of NATO.”
As he has done in the past when asked about a NATO member’s domestic political situation, Mr. Stoltenberg steered clear of comments from Mr. Trump that allies were delinquent before he pressured them to pay up when he was president. The NATO head said bipartisan support for the alliance is in Congress and among the American public. Washington will remain a “strong and staunch” NATO ally regardless of the outcome of this year’s presidential election, he added.
“It is in the U.S. security interest to have a strong NATO. [It] is good for Europe, but it is also good for the United States,” he said. “It makes the United States stronger and safer because in NATO it has what no other major power has — allies.”
The vote of confidence in Ukraine and the promise of NATO membership one day was welcome news to Mariia Hlyten, who was taking part in a pro-Ukrainian rally outside the hall where alliance leaders had gathered. Ukraine Rally D.C. has been on the streets since virtually the start of the war in February 2022, seeking U.S. and Western aid in the battle to turn back Russia’s aggression.
Ms. Hlyten said she had come all the way from Ukraine to show her support and demand change after witnessing the war’s destruction first-hand.
“I was there when the war broke out. I was in Kyiv during the bombing in my basement for about a week. And then me and my family went to the suburbs and got occupied, so we could not get access to food, water, medical supplies, anything,” she said. She noted the summit was being held just as news was breaking that a Russian missile had hit a children’s hospital in her hometown, killing at least 31 people, including some of the young patients at the facility.
Ms. Hlyten said her family sent her pictures of the missiles that flew above their heads just moments before the attack.
“I’m here to advocate for them and for all the fellow citizens of my country,” she said.
• Lizzy Donker contributed to this report.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.