“The most urgent task now is to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign and independent nation in Europe. Because unless Ukraine prevails, then there is no membership issue to be discussed at all,” NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said in the Lithuanian capital. The leaders of NATO countries have gathered in Vilnius to discuss ways to continue the support of Ukraine.

Turkey gave the green light for Sweden’s accession into the alliance after Erdogan and the US came to an agreement over the procurement of new F16 fighters and the upgrade of the existing F16 fleet.

So far western analysts agreed that the highly-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive in eastern Ukraine had not been going as successfully as expected with NATO members working on a formula to guarantee the security of Ukraine in its fight against Russia while making it clear that at this stage of the war, there would be no prospect of NATO membership for the beleaguered nation.

NATO membership offers ironclad “all for one, one for all” protection, but the 31 countries must agree unanimously on letting Ukraine in, and they’re not united on this.

Failing that, major allies like the US, UK, France, and Germany could pledge to shield the country from another attack. NATO and the European Union would back that military protection with more money and other aid.

It’s unlikely that any conclusions will be drawn in Vilnius, but the summit is an important moment for leaders to flesh out what those guarantees might look like.

🇫🇲 Stoltenberg: The main goal is for Ukraine to win as a democratic nation in Europe, otherwise there can be no security guarantees

NATO recognizes that Ukraine has big problems in carrying out the offensive, the Secretary General said. The alliance’s response “should be… pic.twitter.com/MxloJ6d3w6

— Zlatti71 (@djuric_zlatko) July 11, 2023