No final decision on membership of Ukraine to be taken at NATO Summit: US

The White House on Friday announced that the proposed NATO membership of Ukraine will be discussed in the summit of the alliance scheduled next week in Vilnius, however, no decision will be taken in this regard.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that the summit will emphasise the readiness of NATO to accept membership of Ukraine, which he termed as a “milestone” in itself.

"The NATO Summit will dive into the question of NATO's relationship with Ukraine, both the question of its pathway towards future membership and the question of an ongoing partnership that has existed for several years," said Sullivan.

However, "Ukraine will not be joining NATO coming out of this summit," he stated. Kyiv "still has further steps that it needs to take before membership," Sullivan said.

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"Ukraine will have the opportunity to discuss the reforms that are still necessary for Ukraine to come up to NATO standards,” the national security advisor stated.

This statement comes right after Turkey expressed its solidarity with Ukraine's membership proposal as Zelensky held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"I raised the question of Ukraine's membership in the NATO alliance and was happy to hear that the President (Erdogan) supports Ukraine to be a NATO member," said Zelensky.

"We made certain agreements. I asked Turkey to join into the efforts of rebuilding and transforming Ukraine, it is a colossal project, and we need Turkey’s experience and technology to help us,” he said.

The two leaders also discussed the issue of the Black Sea and emphasised that it should be an area of safety not of 'so-called frozen conflicts'.

"We have a common understanding that no one can tell our nations what to do in the Black Sea region that doesn’t coincide with our country’s and our people’s interests. The Black Sea should be an area of safety, co-operation and not an area of war or any crises or so-called frozen conflicts that can ignite at any minute and strike and affect people’s lives," Zelensky stated.

Zelensky to attend two-day gathering in Lithuania

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be attending the two-day conference in Lithuania to propose that Kyiv must join the alliance when the war with Russia ends.

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Sullivan further stated that the White House expects NATO membership of Sweden to win final approval in the coming future. Sullivan stated that it was "possible" that Turkey and Hungary pull back their opposition to Sweden's membership at next week's summit.

"If not, we believe it will happen in the not-too-distant future,” he said.

Sullivan stated that there was "fundamentally goodwill" within the alliance toward Sweden's bid. "A strong NATO makes the United States and the entire world more safe and more secure," he stated.

(With inputs from agencies)

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