President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda stated that at the current summit, the Alliance has agreed to affirm the irreversibility of Ukraine's integration into NATO. This represents the maximum commitment NATO can offer towards Ukraine's membership at this time. Delfi reported on this.
"In the summit declaration, there will be a principle of irreversibility reflected, stating that Ukraine's integration into NATO is an irreversible process. It serves as a bridge from the current situation to future membership. This is the compromise NATO could offer to Ukraine, and the Ukrainian side agrees with this version of the text," Nauseda told journalists in Washington.
According to him, if Ukraine were to join the Alliance now, NATO would have to invoke Article 5.
"Today, NATO is not ready to say more than it has. Any commitment under Article 5 would mean taking action here and now. How to do this, when even sending troops to Ukraine remains taboo within NATO's scope," explained the President.
He also commented on discussions initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron at the end of February regarding the deployment of ground troops to Ukraine.
"There was neither agreement nor broad support for the French initiative. Individual states may and will do so, but there is no common agreement. Most likely, this idea will remain in limbo... Political forces are changing in favor of those parties whose support for Ukraine is ambiguous or more restrained. For this reason, such bold initiatives may be doubted. Essentially, they are already under scrutiny," Nauseda noted.
