Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has blasted a decision by Nato members not to commit to issuing an invitation to his country to join the military alliance within a firm timeline at a landmark summit in Lithuania.
Mr Zelenskiy described it as “unprecedented and absurd” that the 31 members did not set a time frame within which Ukraine would be offered either membership or an invitation to join.
A joint communiqué agreed by the leaders at the summit on Tuesday set down that Ukraine would be issued an invitation at some point in the future, once its members deemed that unspecified “conditions” had been met.
“It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to Nato nor to make it a member of the alliance,” Mr Zelenskiy wrote in a message on social media in response.
He warned that the lack of clarity would leave Ukraine’s potential Nato membership as a bargaining chip for Russia to use in any eventual negotiations to end the conflict. “For Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror,” Mr Zelenskiy wrote.
Ukraine’s closest neighbours, including summit host Lithuania, had pushed for stronger language. Buses that carried attendees in Vilnius were emblazoned with Ukraine’s flag and with messages reading “While you are waiting for this bus, Ukraine is waiting to become a Nato member”.
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Other members of the alliance had reservations, however.
“The Ukrainians and others are the first to acknowledge that they have more work to do – continuing to reform their military, continuing to deepen democratic reforms,” US secretary of state Antony Blinken said.
In a press conference, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg defended the agreement, saying it was the firmest commitment to Ukraine that had yet been agreed by the allies and that it was part of a “strong” package of support.
Asked what criteria Ukraine would need to fulfill to receive an invitation, Mr Stoltenberg mentioned steps to “modernise defence and security institutions” and “strengthen governance including fighting corruption”.
However, for as long as Ukraine was in an active conflict, joining the alliance was not possible, he said.
“All allies agree that when a war is going on, that’s not the time for making Ukraine a full member of the alliance.”
The agreement pledged “practical support” to Ukraine to increase interoperability with Nato armed forces, and to streamline its membership path by removing the usual need for an action plan of reforms.
A new Ukraine-Nato Council, set up to increase political co-ordination, is set to meet for the first time on Wednesday with Mr Zelenskiy in attendance.
Memories of a prior summit of the military alliance in Bucharest in April 2008 hung over the Vilnius meeting. Back then, the United States wanted to move towards admitting Ukraine and Georgia into the alliance, while France and Germany had concerns that this step would antagonise Russia.
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To resolve this division, a compromise agreement rebuffed Ukraine and Georgia’s hopes of progressing towards membership, while promising that they would join at an unspecified time in the future. Russia subsequently invaded both.
Several leaders welcomed a breakthrough agreement with Turkey that would allow Sweden to join the alliance on the eve of the summit.
“For the first time in modern history the entire Nordic region will be inside Nato, and that has profound positive implications for the way we plan our security,” Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre said as he arrived.
He said Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Denmark would now come together to consider how to reorganise regional plans and command structures, now that Nato countries in effect encircled the Baltic Sea.
