NATO leaders converge on Washington ahead of Vilnius summit, as Ukraine presses for membership commitment
SUNAK MEETS BIDEN: After a day of meeting with U.S. congressional leaders and throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game in Washington’s smoke-filled air, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets in the Oval Office with President Joe Biden this morning for wide-ranging talks that will include discussions of Ukraine’s future with NATO.
“Of course, Ukraine and Russia will be top of mind and discussed, said press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at yesterday’s White House briefing.
Sunak’s two-day visit, his first as PM, comes ahead of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s scheduled Monday White House meeting with Biden and as Ukraine is pressing for a concrete signal that it will be formally invited to join NATO once the war with Russia is over.
Sunak is also expected to lobby for Biden’s support for British Defense Minister Ben Wallace to succeed Stoltenberg, whose term as secretary-general ends in September.
SUNAK: 'UKRAINE’S RIGHTFUL PLACE IS IN NATO': In an interview with CNBC last week, Sunak said, “I agree with the NATO secretary-general, Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO” and that the alliance needs to “send a very strong signal to Vladimir Putin that we’re not going anywhere.”
Asked if, in light of Sunak’s statement and Stoltenberg’s impending visit, Biden was thinking about a renewed push toward Ukraine’s admission into NATO, Jean-Pierre was noncommittal. “Nothing has changed on how we’ve answered this question before,” she said. “An alliance decision is between the 31 allies and the aspirant country. That’s how it’s dealt with. There’s a process, and there’s an open-door policy. That’s what we support.”
One week from today, NATO defense ministers gather again in Brussels, and next month, NATO heads of state meet in Vilnius, Lithuania, for the alliance's annual leader’s summit.
ZELENSKY: WITHOUT SIGNAL, ‘NO POINT’: In an interview with the Wall Street Journal last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyexpressed frustration that after 15 years, it still doesn’t have a firm commitment to join NATO.
Zelensky told the newspaper he does not expect Ukraine to join while the war is raging but wants security guarantees for now and a firm promise it will be admitted to the alliance in the future.
“If we are not given a signal in Vilnius, I believe there is no point for Ukraine to be at this summit,” he said. Asked whether he thought he would get a signal, he replied: “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.”
In a Tuesday address at the Bucharest Nine summit, Zelensky argued it’s time for NATO to show it’s not intimidated by Russia.
“At this year's NATO summit in Vilnius, it is time to show that NATO's declared values and real values do not differ. It is time to show that there will be no weakness in Europe,” Zelensky said. “It is necessary to finally establish that Ukraine will be a member of NATO, and this can only be established by an invitation to Ukraine to join.”
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