Poland and Eastern Flank States Back Ukraine’s NATO Bid
Nordic, Baltic and Central European NATO members are committed to Ukrainian membership of the military alliance, the leaders of Poland, Romania and Lithuania said following a summit of the so-called Bucharest Nine (B9) and the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) countries on Monday.
NATO allies declared their support for Ukraine’s “irreversible path” towards membership at last year’s Washington summit. But President Donald Trump has since said that prior U.S. support for Ukraine’s NATO bid was a cause of the war and has indicated that Kyiv will not get membership.
Monday’s meeting, held ahead of a NATO summit at The Hague later this month, included Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia (who are members of the Bucharest Nine), Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden (members of the Nordic-Baltic Eight), and Estonia, Latvia and host Lithuania (members of both groupings).
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a demand that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging NATO eastwards and lift a chunk of sanctions on Russia, Reuters reported last week.
Poland, Romania and Lithuania said on Monday after meeting in Vilnius that the region remains committed to the path towards Ukrainian NATO membership, and called for further pressure on Russia, including more sanctions.
“We stand firm on [the] Allied decision and commitment regarding Ukraine’s irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership. Ukraine has the right to choose its own security arrangements and to decide its own future, free from outside interference,” they said in a joint statement released on behalf of all meeting participants.
The summit was also attended by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who appealed to European allies and the U.S. to maintain their support for his beleaguered country.
Source: Tvp World