NATO chief says no timetable set for Ukraine’s membership

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the leaders of the military organization's member nations have agreed to allow Ukraine to join “when allies agree and conditions are met

Vilnius: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the leaders of the military organization’s member nations have agreed to allow Ukraine to join “when allies agree and conditions are met.” Stoltenberg spoke on Tuesday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky blasted the alliance’s failure to set a timetable for Ukraine’s membership as “absurd.” “We reaffirmed Ukraine will become a member of NATO and agreed to remove the requirement for a membership action plan,” Stoltenberg told reporters, referring to a key step in joining NATO.

The decision will change Ukraine’s membership path from two steps to one step, he said, adding that Ukraine would join “when allies agree and conditions are met.” With no consensus among the 31 allies to admit Ukraine into NATO’s ranks, despite many members funneling arms and ammunition to Zelenskyy’s forces, the leaders decided to remove obstacles on Ukraine’s membership path so that it can join more quickly once the war with Russia is over.

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Zelenskyy had indicated he considered the alliance’s actions to be far from satisfactory.

“It’s unprecedented and absurd when a time frame is set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership,” Zelenskyy tweeted as he headed to Lithuania, where NATO is holding its annual summit.

“While at the same time, vague wording about conditions’ is added even for inviting Ukraine. It seems there is no readiness to invite Ukraine to NATO or to make it a member of the alliance,” he said.

Asked about Zelenskky’s concerns, Stoltenberg said that the most important thing now is to ensure that his country wins the war against Russia because “unless Ukraine prevails, there is no membership to be discussed at all.” THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.