At the NATO summit in Washington on July 9-11, Lithuania will raise the issue of Ukraine's membership in the Alliance.
According to LRT, today, June 28, the preparation of Lithuania for the NATO summit in Washington was discussed at a joint meeting of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on National Security and Defense.
"We discussed the priorities of the upcoming summit - the issue of Ukraine's membership, the question of invitation or, at least, stronger language. We will firmly stand by Ukraine to achieve something greater than what we had in Vilnius," said Lithuanian Minister of National Defense Laurynas Kasciunas.
In Lithuania, it was recalled that at last year's summit in Vilnius, NATO leaders stated that an invitation for Ukraine to join the Alliance would be sent after members of the bloc agree to it and the country meets the relevant conditions.
At the previous summit, it was also decided to exempt Ukraine from the Membership Action Plan, establish the Ukraine-NATO Council, and approve a long-term support plan for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"Expectations may be somewhat lower than last year because partners very clearly indicate that they are not ready for decisive action, but at least there is no change of mind, no one thinks that the texts adopted last year were too strong. This gives hope that by consistently raising this issue, we are moving forward," emphasized Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis.
