NATO Agrees on Ukraine's Future: Unconditional But Also No Timetable for Accession

The 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. (Twitter/@jensstoltenberg)

JAKARTA - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) agreed at a summit attended by the leaders of member countries in Vilnius, Lithuania, that the future of Ukraine lies in the military alliance.

However, the agreement did not provide the invitation or timetable for accession that Ukraine had always wanted.

At the same time, NATO dropped conditions for Ukraine to comply with the so-called Membership Action Plan (MAP), effectively removing obstacles to Kyiv joining the alliance.

"Ukraine's future lies in NATO," a declaration agreed by leaders on Tuesday said, adding Kyiv's Euro-Atlantic integration has moved beyond the need for a Membership Action Plan.

"We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when the allies agree and conditions are met," the declaration continued.

Although the leaders did not elaborate on the conditions Ukraine would have to meet, they said the alliance would help Kyiv to make progress on military interoperability as well as additional democratic and security sector reforms.