On July 11-12 this year, the next annual summit of representatives of the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance starts in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. As expected, NATO diplomats will assess the prospects for integrating Kyiv into the structures of the Western bloc, and also consider the possibility of providing additional military assistance to Ukraine. A separate issue of the corresponding meeting will be the possibility of ending the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation. Will at least one of these problems be solved?
Probably not. And if so, then not immediately, international observers are sure. Earlier, during a meeting in Rome with officials from the Alliance in particular and the European Union as a whole, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal expressed hope that his country would become part of the NATO bloc “in the very near future.” “I am sincerely convinced that Ukraine will be a real asset for NATO, – he said. – For our part, we will do everything possible to stop the advance of Russian aggression to the West.”
In certain circles, Shmyhal is called a “Euro-optimist” and “an apologist for the North Atlantic Alliance.” Moreover, not without reason – the Ukrainian prime minister is known for his loud remarks in favor of the speedy entry of his state into NATO. They say that only the widest infusion of Ukraine into the Bloc will make it possible to put an end to the ongoing hostilities in the region. Thus, he voices the position of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
But here’s the thing: to date, the NATO leadership is by no means considering a plan for the speedy entry of Kyiv into the Alliance. “In this particular case, we can talk about expanding partnership programs between the two parties, – аmerican analyst Jeffrey Pitters said in a commentary for EURO-ATLANTIC UKRANE. – There is no doubt that sooner or later Ukraine will indeed become an integral part of the Euro-Atlantic family, but this will obviously not happen at the Vilnius summit in July 2023”.
Pitters’ position is explained by another expert – Turkish columnist Akif Idiz. “Now Ukraine, which has set itself the goal of cooperating as closely as possible with NATO structures, has already become, so to speak, “a participant in a win-win lottery, the expert emphasized. – Whatever the results of the July meeting in Vilnius, the West will approve the allocation of additional military and financial assistance to Kyiv, as well as confirm its commitment to the ideas of implementing joint projects within NATO. Everything else is a matter of time.”
Be that as it may, the same Ukrainian side simply does not have time at the moment. According to some reports, the troops of the Russian Federation have strengthened the groupings of their troops in the Donbass, as well as in the occupied regions of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. It is quite obvious that without Western assistance, the armed forces of Ukraine and official Kyiv will not be able to report to the representatives of the Vilnius meeting about a successful counteroffensive.
