NATO may declare Ukraine's path to membership 'irreversible' at Washington summit

WASHINGTON — NATO allies are in final negotiations over language that says Ukraine's eventual admission into the military alliance is "irreversible" − so long as it makes a series of reforms required for membership.

The U.S. and other member nations agreed at last year's summit in Lithuania that Ukraine would become a member "when Allies agree and conditions are met."

This week they are likely to acknowledge at a critical summit in Washington that, while Ukraine still has a ways to go, as long as it continues to make progress, there will be a path to NATO membership, a U.S. official said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Sunday evening in Washington, D.C., that allies are close to agreeing on precise wording.

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"We are working on the exact language on how to express that Ukraine is going to become a NATO ally, and how we are moving forward," Stoltenberg said.

Allies plan to announce a new package of support at the summit, which will bring the leaders of more than 31 western nations, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to Washington for several days of talks.

It is likely to consist of five components, Stoltenberg said: training for Ukrainians with a command center in Germany and logistical hubs in the eastern part of the alliance; a financial pledge to continue providing a "minimum baseline" of $43 billion in combined military support over the next year; the delivery of more weapons, ammunition and a "substantial" increase in air defense capabilities; bilateral security agreements, like the 10-year pact the U.S. announced last month; and new programs to help Ukraine's armed forces become fully interoperable with NATO.

The five measures "constitute a bridge to membership" along with language in a summit declaration that expresses that Ukraine is "coming closer to NATO membership," he said.

"The language on membership is one of the remaining issues," Stoltenberg acknowledged. "So we are negotiating that now. I'm confident we will find a solution."

Regardless of the language on membership, allies will announce concrete actions, he said.

"The substance of our package, we will deepen and strengthen our security cooperation with Ukraine, it speaks as loudly as language in the declaration," Stoltenberg said. "And I really believe that we now are turning a corner, given that we are able to agree (on) all these elements of the security package."

A senior administration official told reporters on a White House call last week that the summit communique would include "very strong language" that amplifies President Joe Biden's position that Ukraine will join NATO.

On Sunday evening, a U.S. official told USA TODAY the Biden administration had agreed to the inclusion of the word "irreversible" on the specific condition that Ukraine meets all the necessary requirements.

For the U.S. to approve Ukraine's membership to NATO, the war with Russia would have to be over and Ukraine would have to enact additional anti-corruption reforms, a second official said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NATO debates calling Ukraine membership path 'irreversible' at summit