Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not attend the Vilnius NATO Summit if leaders do not show “courage” to start Ukraine’s accession process, his chief diplomatic advisor has said.
According to Ihor Zhovkva, Kyiv wants the Vilnius NATO Summit due to take place on July 11-12 to deliver a response to the application for NATO membership that Ukraine filed in September last year.
“This application is now on the tables of the leaders of NATO allies. The Vilnius summit would be a very good start to respond to this application. And by respond, we mean invitation for membership, which is only the first stage,” he told Reuters.
“If there is no result at the Vilnius summit, he [Zelensky] doesn’t have reason and time to go,” the advisor added.
Zelensky’s chief of staff said this week that the president would decide on the eve of the summit whether or not to go.
“The president will not travel to the summit if the leaders will tend to or will show a deficit of courage, while Ukraine with all its courage, will and strength and high morale is fighting against Russian aggression,” Zhovkva added.
NATO allies are divided over Ukraine’s possible NATO membership. Lithuania has called for Ukraine to be invited to join the alliance at the Vilnius summit. Meanwhile, other countries, including Germany, believe that the summit should focus on strengthening Ukraine’s fighting power instead of opening its accession process.
The alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has previously said that NATO will not issue an invitation for Ukraine to join at The Vilnius summit.
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