US envoy doesn't expect Ukraine NATO invitation at July summit
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FILE PHOTO: Banners displaying the NATO logo are placed at the entrance of new NATO headquarters during the move to the new building, in Brussels, Belgium April 19, 2018. REUTERS/Yves Herman
BRUSSELS - The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, said on Tuesday she does not expect the alliance to issue a membership invitation to Ukraine at its summit in Washington this coming July.
"As for the summit this summer, I do not expect the alliance to issue an invitation at this juncture," Smith said in response to a question on a call with journalists ahead of a NATO defence ministers' meeting on Thursday.
As it fights Russia's invasion, Ukraine has made clear its aim is to become a member of the U.S.-led military alliance.
Kyiv and some of its allies inside NATO, particularly in Eastern Europe, have pushed for a membership invitation even as they accept Ukraine could not join NATO while still at war.
At a summit in Lithuania last year, NATO leaders said Ukraine's future was in the alliance but stopped short of issuing an invitation or setting out a timeline for membership.
"We've worked very hard since the Vilnius summit last year to move out on a number of steps to continue to help our friends in Ukraine with the necessary reforms inside their own country to move closer to Euro-Atlantic integration," Smith said.
"And we continue to focus first and foremost on supporting them in the current fight and ensuring that they can prevail on the battlefield." REUTERS
