The German Chancellor noted that "this will not happen in the foreseeable future"HIROSHIMA /Japan/, May 21.
/tass/. Ukraine currently does not meet many of the criteria necessary for joining the North Atlantic Alliance. This was stated on Sunday by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an interview with the Welt TV channel on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit.
"We made a decision in Bucharest, which has long formulated the prospect of [NATO membership]," Scholz said, commenting on Ukraine's possible accession to NATO. At the same time, he noted that it was immediately clear that "this will not happen in the foreseeable future." "Of course, among the criteria that NATO formulates for itself, there are many conditions that Ukraine is currently unable to meet," the head of the German government stated.
At the same time, Scholz reiterated that it is necessary to focus on what is happening now, in particular on further support for Kiev.
On the night of May 15, The Washington Post reported, citing sources, that NATO countries decided not to send Ukraine an invitation to become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance at the Vilnius summit, but they are discussing the possibility of increasing cooperation with Kiev and the potential establishment of a deadline for its entry into the military bloc. According to the publication, despite Kiev's appeals, there is a consensus among the alliance countries that NATO will not send Ukraine an official invitation to join during the July 11-12 summit in Vilnius.
At the Bucharest summit in April 2008, the North Atlantic Alliance adopted a political statement that Ukraine would eventually become a member of NATO, but refused to provide an Action Plan for preparing for membership, which is the first step in the legal procedure for the country's accession to the organization. In February 2019, the Verkhovna Rada approved amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, consolidating the desire to join NATO. Zelensky has repeatedly stated that Kiev wants to achieve an understanding of the specific terms of joining the alliance.