Berlin Plans to Delay Ukraine’s NATO Membership Bid, Reports Claim

Moscow, July 8 – The British newspaper The Telegraph reported, quoting sources in NATO, that Germany intends, at the alliance summit in Vilnius on July 11 and 12, to insist on postponing Ukraine’s accession to NATO due to fears that this step could lead to war with Russia.

He added that “Berlin does not want Vladimir Putin to test a possible Article 5,” under which any NATO member country under attack has the right to demand military intervention from the rest of the allies.

The source indicated that Germany will take advantage of the Vilnius summit to urge other members of the alliance to focus on providing security guarantees to Ukraine, and not on proposals to join NATO.

Earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO until the end of the conflict, saying that he would like to support partners in the form of an invitation to the alliance today.

At the end of September 2022, Zelensky announced that Ukraine is applying to join NATO on an accelerated basis. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan described such action as being too late. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated the bloc’s position on the “open door policy,” but stressed that the alliance would focus its efforts on military assistance to Kiev. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine will not be satisfied with any other decision of the NATO summit in Vilnius, except for an invitation to join the alliance.

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin has heard Zelensky’s request for Ukraine to join NATO, as well as the various reactions to it. According to him, Moscow is closely monitoring the situation and remembers that it was Kiev’s orientation towards the alliance that became one of the reasons for the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, “including not only the supply of weapons, but also the training of personnel … in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and other countries.” Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, General Valery Gerasimov, said that the United States, Great Britain, Poland and Romania make the greatest contribution to providing Kiev with military assistance.