Kuleba: NATO allies agree on simplified procedure for Ukraine's accession
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"Following intensive talks," NATO allies agreed to remove the Membership Action Plan (MAP) from Ukraine's path toward accession, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on July 10.
"I welcome this long-awaited decision that shortens our path to NATO. It is also the best moment to offer clarity on the invitation to Ukraine to become a member," Kuleba tweeted.
The MAP envisages a country being assessed step-by-step on its way to meeting specific criteria for NATO accession, which may take years or even decades. Finland, who applied to join NATO in May 2022 and skipped the MAP process, managed to become the alliance's member in less than a year.
Kuleba previously said that Ukraine's path toward NATO was expected to become shorter after the alliance's next summit, set to take place on July 11-12 in Vilnius. Kyiv hopes to receive a "clear signal" from allies regarding its membership prospects at the summit.
Axios reported on June 16, citing people familiar with the matter, that U.S. President Joe Biden had supported a proposal by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to announce that Ukraine does not need to implement the MAP to join NATO.
However, Biden later told reporters that he wouldn't ease barriers to Ukraine's membership because the country has to meet the same standards as other members.
The simplified procedure would still oblige Ukraine to carry out reforms and, contrary to the wishes of Eastern European allies, would not set any time frame for Ukraine's accession, wrote Washington Post.
Ukraine applied for NATO membership in September 2022, half a year into the full-scale Russian invasion. Ukraine's accession to NATO has been a subject of discussions and disagreements for months.
