With great power comes great responsibility. The phrase certainly sums up the stance of NATO countries regarding Ukraine’s position in the alliance. Although Ukraine has been fighting Russia with all its might, the country heavily relies on the West to show its prowess, especially in terms of arms and artillery. The battle is not even half-won.
But what has been constant for Ukraine throughout this war, is the staunch support of the US. However, it looks like Biden’s recent statements over Ukraine’s NATO membership have given rise to a certain kind of tension between him and Zelensky, which was quite visible at the NATO summit in Vilnius this week.
What did Zelensky expect?
Zelensky was quite vocal about his ambitions at the NATO summit. He has repeatedly said that he wanted full membership for Ukraine. NATO’s open-door policy clearly allows any European country to apply for membership for free which is why the number of founding members has also seen an uptick.
What happened at the summit?
Nato states at the summit were quite clear about their opinion and intention regarding Ukraine’s membership. They said that the country can join the military alliance “when allies agree and conditions are met”. BBC reported that the alliance said it recognises the need for Ukraine to move faster for its membership but they would not be drawn on a timeframe.
Zelensky was initially furious as he criticized the “absurd” delay. He said that there appeared “no readiness” to make Ukraine a member of NATO. The Ukrainian leader later at the summit showed a calm approach as he said that Nato states gave a powerful signal to Russia where they said that Ukraine will be an independent state.
Biden’s contradictory move
US President Joe Biden before leaving for the NATO summit had an interview with CNN where he said that the time is not yet right for Ukraine to join the NATO alliance, reported Reuters. When asked how soon would he want Ukraine to join NATO after the war is over, POTUS said, “an hour and 20 minutes”.
However, at the summit, Biden said that the United States would give its full support to Ukraine in the military alliance, even without membership. According to an AP report, Biden said, “One thing Zelenskiy understands now is that whether or not he’s in NATO now is not relevant” as long as he has the new commitments that have been made at the summit. Biden assured that Zelensky is not concerned about the membership now.
A marked shift in Zelensky’s tone
Zelensky left the summit without being given a timeline for NATO membership, but on the other hand, he did receive support for long-term security assistance from the US and other G-7 nations.
There was a noted shift in Zelensky’s tone as he thanked Biden for spending the money for Ukrainians’ life, AP reported. He expressed gratitude for shipments of controversial cluster munitions as they would help Ukraine in its fight against Russia.