Next week, a NATO summit will take place in Washington, and the Ukrainian delegation faces a series of tasks and challenges.
Igor Popov, a political expert from the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, discusses key aspects related to the upcoming NATO summit:
1. Clarify to the maximum extent possible the conditions under which an invitation to join the alliance might be extended. The summit's declaration will mention an "institutional bridge," but this bridge needs to lead to solid ground. Ukraine will fulfill its annual adapted program, and it is widely understood that the main obstacle is political. Some leaders of NATO member countries believe that keeping Ukraine out of the alliance entails fewer risks than inviting it into the collective security system. The election forecasts in these countries do not add optimism. Therefore, informal discussions must be candid and rational.
The response "You will receive an invitation when you have fully and definitively overcome corruption" is also an answer that can be easily read between the lines.
2. Consolidate the signed security agreements into a single system and define the coordination mechanism. It is planned that this will be the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, with a separate headquarters in Wiesbaden and a representation in Kyiv. This instrument will assume the functions of the Ramstein format and will relieve the United States of direct coordination of military assistance.
3. Determine the volumes and mechanisms of financial assistance from NATO member countries. It is important that the funds allocated to various mechanisms to support Ukraine have different origins and different budget lines in the budgets of partner countries.
4. Within the coalition of capabilities, obtain additional missile defense and air defense systems. Clarify the quantity and delivery timelines of combat aircraft.
Following the summit and negotiations, Ukraine will have an understanding of the terms and the type of national security system we will build. The most likely scenario is a "fortress country" where our own Defense Forces and defense industry complex are the main guarantors of security.
