NATO welcomes Ukraine’s membership but stops short of invitation

Reuters :
NATO leaders agreed on Tuesday that Ukraine’s future lies within the alliance but they stopped short of handing Kyiv the invitation or timetable for accession it sought, a stance that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had earlier criticised as “absurd”.
The leaders met at a summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius as a Ukrainian counteroffensive against the Russian invasion forces occupying parts of the country was proceeding more slowly than Kyiv had hoped.

In its declaration, NATO also dropped the requirement for Ukraine to fulfil what is called a Membership Action Plan (MAP), effectively removing a hurdle on Kyiv’s way into the alliance.
“Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” the declaration said. “We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are met.”
They did not specify the conditions Ukraine needs to meet, but they said the alliance would help Kyiv to make progress on military interoperability as well as on additional democratic and security sector reforms.

Zelenskiy had earlier assailed NATO leaders for not offering a timeframe for membership.
“It’s unprecedented and absurd when a timeframe is not set, neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership,” Zelenskiy said before arriving as a special guest.