Ukraine urges NATO to quickly approve its membership

NATO nations must swiftly advance Ukraine’s proposed entry into the Western military alliance, a top Ukrainian official said Wednesday, calling the past decision to defer the country’s membership a “strategic mistake.”

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba spoke during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers held this week in the same massive Romanian state palace where NATO leaders, 14 years prior, declared they would support Ukraine’s membership but deferred it indefinitely until a host of conditions could be met.

“It is somehow unfortunate that it was exactly here in this palace in 2008 when, in our view, a strategic mistake was made by delaying Ukraine’s membership to NATO,” Kuleba told reporters as the meeting concluded. “We believe . . . that the discussion on Ukraine’s application should begin. And we believe that mistakes made in the past can be corrected.”

Although top NATO officials and diplomats reiterated their support for the 2008 declaration, they consistently dodged questions about when Ukraine might join the alliance, saying the focus for now is getting Ukraine through the winter and the war. Accession, officials suggested, is a discussion for another day.

“It is important now that we take it step by step,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday. “The most important and urgent step is to ensure that Ukraine prevails, and that is exactly what we are doing.”

“Allies are continuing to reaffirm their commitment to what happened in this city in 2008,” Julianne Smith, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, said in a press briefing ahead of the meetings.

“We also have said many times that our focus collectively right now is on practical support to Ukrainian military forces and to the Ukrainian people.”

The summit in Bucharest comes more than nine months into the war in Ukraine, as Russia lashes out amid battleground setbacks and as the prospect of peace appears to be distant.

Russia on Monday announced that it was postponing a technical meeting with U.S. officials about the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, calling into question the future of the sole remaining strategic nuclear arms control treaty between Washington and Moscow.

The New START accord, which built on Cold War deals to limit nuclear arms, is not due to expire until February 2026, but regular inspections mandated by the treaty have not been held for about three years, first because of the pandemic, then because relations were poisoned by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.