NATO summit will not be historic without a decision to invite Ukraine - Stefanishyna
Ukraine has been making long and thorough preparations for the NATO summit to be held in Vilnius on July 11-12, and has clear expectations of the event.
This was stated by Olha Stefanishyna, Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, on the air of the United News telethon, reports Censor.NЕТ with reference to Ukrinform.
"Despite the scale of preparations for the summit, this event will not be historic without a clear decision on inviting Ukraine to join NATO. Today, we see positive signals in this direction, including the decision of the Lithuanian Parliament that Ukraine should be invited to join NATO at the NATO Summit with further determination of the procedures for joining NATO, taking into account the current security situation. This is an important message. We also drew attention to Poland's statement on the importance of providing Ukraine with security guarantees within the framework of the Vilnius Summit," Stefanishyna said.
She added that the need for Ukraine's integration into transatlantic security structures as a full member is also mentioned in the recent appeal of American opinion leaders to NATO member states.
The Vice Prime Minister expressed her expectation that, despite the fears and certain restraint of some allies regarding the start of Ukraine's accession process, important political decisions will eventually be made.
Stefanishyna also spoke about Ukraine's preparations for the summit in Vilnius: according to her, it is not only about political issues, but also about achieving full interoperability between Ukraine and NATO member states.
The Vice Prime Minister emphasized that today, on the battlefield, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are achieving compatibility with NATO, in particular, mastering modern Western-style equipment; the processes of achieving NATO standards in organizing the state's defense capability are ongoing.
"I can already say that the agreements (on practical cooperation - ed.) that we are preparing for Vilnius are supported. But, of course, they will not be decisive without clear security guarantees for Ukraine and a clear strategic certainty and invitation to NATO," the Vice Prime Minister said.
