Reuters. NATO allies should agree to remove the requirement of a Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Ukraine to become a member of the alliance in the future, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday (July 11).
"Ukraine has come a long way since we made that decision in 2008 that the next step would be a Membership Action Plan. Ukraine is much closer to NATO, so I think the time has come to reflect that also in NATO decisions.
All put together, including that we'll make clear that Ukraine will become a member, we'll remove the Membership Action Plan, we will make their forces into proper NATO forces, we will establish NATO-Ukraine Council. All that together will send a very strong and positive message from NATO to Ukraine. I am confident that we will make a strong and united decision on Ukraine, both to sustain and step up our support. I am also confident that on the membership issue, allies will reaffirm that Ukraine will become a member", Stoltenberg said.
NATO leaders gather for a summit in Vilnius on Tuesday seeking to overcome divisions on Ukraine's membership bid after a deal to lift Turkey's block on Sweden joining the military alliance. The summit in the Lithuanian capital will be dominated by the repercussions of war in Ukraine, with leaders set to approve NATO's first comprehensive plans since the end of the Cold War to defend against any possible attack from Moscow.
