NATO countries are not on the same page over how, when and, in a few cases, even if Ukraine should join, Politico reported. It said some allies are avoiding the topic altogether as, aware of Russian President Vladimir Putin's concerns over NATO's eastward expansion, they do not want to provoke the Kremlin.
For many NATO members, it is the sensitive issue of legal obligation of collective defense that is holding them back from speaking up on Ukraine's prospects of membership, the report said.
NATO member states essentially evade the subject of Ukraine's accession to the alliance and repeat "carefully crafted" lines focusing on the current conflict, the report said.
Soldiers during the Rapid Trident-2021 joint exercises of Ukraine and NATO countries at the Yavorovsky training ground in the Lvov Region.
© Sputnik
At the end of September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine was applying for fast-track membership in NATO. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg responded by reiterating the alliance's commitment to "open doors" policy but giving no concrete outlook on Ukraine's prospects, saying just that the alliance would concentrate its efforts on assisting Kiev in defending itself. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in earlier remarks that Ukraine's bid to join NATO should be addressed at another time.
Moscow has always described NATO as an alliance aimed at confrontation. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in early April that the alliance's further expansion toward Russian border is aggressive in nature and will not make Europe more secure.