Will pave the bridge to membership: Blinken outlines the significance of the NATO summit for Ukraine

Blinken said that the NATO summit will build a “bridge” to Ukraine's membership/Collage Channel 24

For a long time, our state has been striving to join the North Atlantic Alliance. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced the prospect of its entry against the backdrop of the NATO summit, which will take place soon.

In his opinion, the NATO summit, which will take place in July this year in Washington, should provide a “bridge” to Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance. Antony Blinken stated this at a press conference in Prague on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Friday, May 31, reports 24 Channel.

At the NATO summit they will build a “bridge” for Ukraine’s accession

The US Secretary of State noted that during During the NATO summit, everything possible will be done to build a “bridge” to Ukraine’s membership in the North Atlantic Alliance, which our state so strives for.

Answering the question of what real steps the summit will take can offer Ukraine, in order to reduce its disappointment due to the lack of plans in NATO, to provide an invitation to the Alliance, he repeated his words.

As allies agreed at the last summit in Vilnius, Ukraine will become a member of NATO. Our goal now is to build a bridge to bring Ukraine closer, and subsequently (attract – ed.) to NATO,” he said.

What else will be discussed at the Alliance summit

According to him, the summit will also adopt a “strong package of support for Ukraine”, which will strengthen NATO cooperation and assistance to our state, and will also promote integration of Ukraine into the Alliance.

“Tangible steps will be taken that will strengthen NATO's role in helping Ukraine build forces so that in the future it can deter and defend against aggression,” he emphasized US Secretary of State.

Blinken paid special attention to the bilateral security agreements that our state is now actively concluding with its allies. He believes that Kyiv will be sufficiently resourced to continue its defense.

This is a process, and we are moving forward very methodically, in a way that brings practical benefits for Ukraine, including progress towards its NATO membership in very clear and practical ways,” the American official added.

Ukraine's accession in NATO: latest news

• Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky supported the possibility of Ukraine's membership in NATO, pointing out the need to first ensure its survival before considering membership in the Alliance.
• Madam US Ambassador to NATO Julian Smith said at a press conference that during the NATO summit in Washington there will be important changes in wording regarding the prospects for Ukraine's membership in NATO.
• Recently, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that NATO will increase its role in the process of integrating Ukraine into the North Atlantic Alliance. It is expected that in the future this will lead to its full entry.