NATO Summit Highlights
The path for Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — a once distant prospect before Russia launched its full-scale invasion on the country — is now “irreversible,” members of the bloc said from Washington this week. However, promises without actions were deemed insufficient by many Ukrainian officials and analysts.
The public display of solidarity at the summit was welcomed, but there’s a consensus that it did little to fundamentally alter the course of the war, leaving deep uncertainties confronting both Ukraine and the Western alliance.
Valeriy Chaly, a former Ukrainian ambassador to the United States and head of the Ukraine Crisis Media Center, expressed that the summit fell short of its potential to be truly historic.
While Ukrainian officials are grateful for the renewed pledges of military support and hopeful about the impact of security agreements on future peace negotiations, the failure to formally invite Ukraine to join NATO is seen as a sign of indecision by the West on its response to President Vladimir V. Putin’s invasion.
Moreover, the summit was overshadowed by the looming uncertainty of the upcoming United States presidential election. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine mentioned that everyone, including Mr. Putin, is eagerly awaiting the outcome of the November election.
