KYIV, Ukraine, July 10 ------ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky voiced hope for the "best possible result" from an upcoming NATO summit where Kyiv is hoping for a clear signal that it could one day join the alliance.
After meeting his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, Zelensky said the two discussed the summit, which opens on Tuesday in Vilnius, and agreed to "work together to get the best possible result for Ukraine". Poland is one of Ukraine's biggest supporters within NATO and has said it wants "security guarantees" for the country from other NATO members. Zelensky has said he does not expect Ukraine to actually join NATO until after the war but he hopes the summit will give a "clear signal" on the intention to bring Ukraine into the alliance.
US President Joe Biden, who arrived on Sunday in Britain on his way to the NATO summit, said he hoped the military alliance leaders would "lay out a rational path for Ukraine to be able to qualify to be able to get into NATO". Speaking to CNN, he said there were also "other qualifications that need to be met, including democratization". "I don't think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war," he added. Bringing Ukraine in now, Biden said, would mean "war with Russia" because of the NATO commitment to collective defense.
Source: philstar.com
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