Polish PM: Ukraine deserves 'very quick path' to NATO membership

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview published by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on June 4 that Ukraine deserves a quick path to NATO membership given that it "fights in the interests of NATO."

According to Morawiecki, Ukraine fights on behalf of the military alliance "in the sense that they are defending against this brutal Russian force which would jeopardize many other NATO countries," even though it is not yet a NATO member.

For this reason "they deserve to be presented with a very quick path to NATO," the Polish Prime Minister said.

Ukraine has been pushing for a clear path to NATO membership and security guarantees from its allies.

However, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in mid-May that Ukraine's victory against Russia would be the "starting point" to moving forward on talks regarding its NATO membership.

"It is only if Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation in Europe that there is any meaning in discussing when and how Ukraine can become a member of the (NATO military) alliance," Stoltenberg said.

On June 3, President Volodymyr Zelensky said there was "no point" in attending the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius if Ukraine would not be given "a signal" about its post-war membership prospects in the military alliance.