Poland and the Baltic states are facing a significant pushback from Washington and Berlin which believe it is too soon for Ukraine to become a full member of NATO while it is still engaged in a conflict with Russia, the report said on Tuesday.
Officials in both countries think that instead of discussing Ukraine's imminent NATO membership it makes more sense to focus on supplying the country with what it needs to fight against Russia, the report added.
“The US has been telling allies, ‘look, don’t put this on the agenda,’” the report cited Jim Townsend, a former US Defense Department official for NATO policy, as saying. “They’re going to have to come up with something that is reassuring, and is something of substance for Ukraine, and is a signal to Russia that we’re not backing off.”
Some officials in Europe and the US think that Ukraine in NATO would become a game changer in the conflict.
During an annual NATO Summit in Vilnius in July, NATO leaders agreed on a package of three elements to bring Ukraine closer to the alliance. However, NATO has not extended an official invitation to Ukraine yet.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that NATO expansion to include Ukraine creates a direct national security threat for Russia and Moscow considers the non-aligned status of Ukraine to be extremely important.
Putin also said that Russia has always stood against Ukraine's membership in NATO due to its national security concerns, but never opposed its aspirations to join the European Union.