As long as the war continues, Ukraine's accession to NATO is unlikely: the White House explains why

Ukraine's membership in NATO is unlikely in the near future, as it would lead to a war between the Alliance and Russia. In addition, our country still needs to fulfil some requirements, which is complicated by military operations on its territory.

This was stated by John Kirby, the White House National Security Council's coordinator for strategic communications, CNN reports. It is noted that he opposed the comments of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who criticised NATO leaders in connection with discussions on the path to NATO membership.

"We believe that the future of Ukraine is in NATO. I mean, the Alliance agreed on this back in 2008. Now, there are some reforms - good governance, rule of law, political reforms - that Ukraine has to work on, and we understand that it is difficult to work on some of these reforms when you are at war. Of course, they are at war now. So, NATO membership is unlikely in the near future because it would lead to a NATO war with Russia," Kirby said.

However, he acknowledged Zelenskyy's frustration and stressed that everyone understands the desire to end the war as soon as possible.

To recap: On 11 July, the NATO summit started in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Ukraine expects concrete decisions on its path to joining the Alliance, as well as the West's continued military support. This will be one of the main issues of the meeting.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL:

- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference following the first day of the summit in Vilnius that Ukraine would become a NATO member without a Membership Action Plan. This will change Ukraine's membership path from a two-stage process to a one-stage process;

- President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Vilnius for the NATO summit on 11 July. The head of state is expected to deliver a speech at 18.00 Kyiv time, Ukrainian media reported;

- US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that Joe Biden would be looking forward to meeting Zelenskyy in person at the summit.

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