Rishi Sunak said he hoped there would be “demonstrable progress” towards Ukraine’s eventual membership of Nato at the two-day leaders’ summit, but did not give any timescale or set any conditions that the country may have to meet before becoming a member.
The prime minister said “Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato” as he flew out to the summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius on Tuesday, but he said further discussions about how Kyiv could achieve membership would take place among leaders at the annual summit.
Nato would “stand by the language of Bucharest in 2008”, Sunak added, referring to the summit where Ukraine’s eventual membership was agreed in principle but no timetable or roadmap was set out, to the long-running frustration of the country’s leaders.
“I think that what’s important at this summit is that commitment is reaffirmed, and also there is demonstrable progress towards that goal,” the prime minister said. But he said Ukraine’s membership was “not a question for right now, whilst they are in the midst of a conflict”.
At the heart of Nato lies a commitment for each member state to defend the other if they are attacked, meaning that if Ukraine were to join while the war was continuing, it could immediately draw member states into a fight against Russia.
Ukraine is hoping for a clear pathway to membership once the fighting stops but so far the US and Germany have proved resistant to agreeing any firm timescales or clear conditions, leaving Kyiv and some of its keener backers in Nato frustrated. Sunak’s comments do not suggest American resistance has been overcome.
The prime minister is heading out to Vilnius with the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, and the defence secretary, Ben Wallace. As well as attending plenary sessions on Tuesday, he is expected to hold bilateral meetings with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the outgoing Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte.
Sunak said a group of leaders – including those from the US, France and Germany – would continue to have discussions about providing long-term “security assurances” to Ukraine in the form of continuing military aid and economic support.
But he conceded that the package was not yet ready to be announced, amid reports of delays that may prevent that from happening this week. “I’m very keen to try and get this over the line,” Sunak said.
A long-term package of security assurances, which would be offered bilaterally by the countries involved, was critical, the prime minister said, because “it will send a strong deterrent message to the Russians”, and he said Vladimir Putin had to understand “there is no point in just waiting out the west”.
