Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he wants to see NATO’s commitment to inducting Ukraine as a full member of the alliance “reaffirmed” during the two-day summit in Vilnius.
Ukraine’s membership is one of the key items on the agenda of the NATO summit being held in the Lithuanian capital.
On his way to the summit on Tuesday, Mr. Sunak repeated his stance that Ukraine’s “rightful place is in NATO.”
He said NATO would “stand by the language of Bucharest in 2008,” in a reference to the agreement reached at the alliance’s 2008 summit on Ukraine’s eventual membership.
“I think that what’s important at this summit is that commitment is reaffirmed, and also there is demonstrable progress towards that goal,” he said.
But he said Ukraine’s membership is “not a question for right now, whilst they are in the midst of a conflict.”
Security Assurances
Britain has voiced its support for fast-tracking Kyiv through the membership process, arguing much of the military reforms asked of it are being witnessed on the battlefield in its fight against Russia’s invading troops.Mr. Sunak, without providing details of what the deal could look like, said Britain had played a leading role in the discussions since he put the issue of multilateral Western security assurances on the table during his speech at the Munich security conference in February.
He said providing security guarantees to Ukraine is about showing the Kremlin that the West would not tire in its backing for Kyiv.
“We are with Ukraine for as long as it takes. That is why the security assurances are important because what Putin needs to understand is there is no point in just waiting out the West.
‘Very Special Military Alliance’
On arrival in Vilnius, the prime minister said the Russian invasion of Ukraine had reminded NATO of its importance.He said: “The past 500 days of Putin’s war in Ukraine has reminded us of the enduring unity and importance of this very special military alliance, which the UK has been at the heart of for the entire time of its existence.
“I think priorities of this summit are to strengthen that alliance so that we can face the threats of the future and protect ourselves adequately against them, but also to continue supporting Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression so that they can continue to fight for their freedom.'’
Downing Street said Mr. Sunak would use the Vilnius summit to press home the importance of increasing defence spending, urging member states to meet the target of spending at least 2 percent of its GDP on defence.
No. 10 said that last year, fewer than half of those in the alliance were meeting the expenditure target in relation to their national GDP, with just nine out of 30 members spending 2 percent or more.
Speaking ahead of his trip, Mr. Sunak said that the alliance has “come together like never before in support of Ukraine and with firm determination that Russia cannot succeed.
“That is work we need to continue this week. We cannot let the fog of war obscure the clear lessons our alliance must learn if we are going to outpace and outmanoeuvre those who seek to do us harm.
“That is why the UK is investing record amounts in defence, to make our armed forces more lethal and more deployable, and to ready our defence industry for the challenges ahead.
“And that’s something we need to see across NATO—starting with meeting the 2 percent commitment.”
