This year, Ukraine is abandoning the intention of accelerated accession to NATO due to serious well-founded fears about the possible involvement of the alliance in the conflict with Russia.
Ukraine's partners have warned President Volodymyr Zelenskyi against putting pressure on NATO to rapidly approach membership, characterizing it as an unrealistic demand.
The meeting of the North Atlantic Alliance this year will be held in Washington from July 9 to 11 and will be dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the organization.
The USA and Germany, while preparing for the summit, opposed concrete commitments regarding the time frame of Ukraine's possible accession to NATO.
"They are very cautious about Ukraine's further movement towards full membership in NATO this year," said a source familiar with the views of the Biden administration.
"The United States may be less worried than Germany, but there are certain fears about the threat that Russia may pose to other members of the alliance," the interlocutors of the publication added.
Last year, Volodymyr Zelenskyi expressed outrage at the "unprecedented and absurd" situation when the NATO leadership refused to extend an invitation to Ukraine for full membership during the summit in Vilnius. This year, he was urged to refrain from putting pressure on individual members of the alliance so that they do not support a clear date for Ukraine's accession to the bloc.
Amid this year's summit, some countries in the alliance, including Britain, tried to influence the decision, leading to a split in the bloc, sources said.
This, they say, may play a role in the question of the relevance of the alliance before the presidential elections in the United States and the possible victory of Donald Trump.
At the same time, at the July NATO summit in Washington, Ukraine will be offered what will be called a "bridge" or "path" to accession as a sign of support for the process. However, they do not intend to name clear terms of joining the alliance. The support package currently under discussion will emphasize "Ukraine's ability to choose its own future" and demonstrate that "the path to membership is getting shorter," the two diplomats said.
The package will focus on strengthening Ukraine's armed forces to ensure its readiness to immediately join NATO when the alliance's leaders decide to do so.
To do this, NATO will assume a leading role in Ramstein, the gathering place of more than 50 allies who coordinate military aid to Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also tried to push the alliance's 32 members to create a $100 billion fund to bring Ukraine's military up to "NATO standards" through arms and training.
However, some member states express skepticism about the total amount, so they are now considering replacing the fund with a promise from each ally to allocate a percentage of defense spending to Kyiv.
NATO first announced that Ukraine could become a member in 2008, but never defined a timeline or process for joining.
