On the Foreign Scene
The outcome of the first day of North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO 2023 Vilnius summit , Lithuania is not a good one for Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky .
In the summit which started yesterday to end today , Zelenesky expected he was going to get invitation or timetable for his country’s membership into NATO.
However , a declaration by NATO leaders emphasized that Ukraine’s future is in NATO though they will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are met.
The leaders not specifying what conditions Ukraine needs to meet
is an attempt to diplomatically bridge a divide that has formed between members on the eastern flank ,who largely agree with Ukraine, and those that include Germany and importantly, the United States who feel that now is simply not the right time during a war and ahead of any peace agreement that nobody could possibly foresee the parameters.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that he expects the group to send a clear, united and positive message on the path towards membership for Ukraine, but those comments were not strong enough to satisfy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyyy, who claimed it was absurd that a timeline for joining the alliance was not given him.
Disappointed Ukrainian president also accused Joe Biden and other leaders present at a summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, of showing disrespect and complained that there was no readiness to invite his country to join.
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