NATO would need to agree conditions for Ukraine invitation, Dutch minister says

Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans. (Reuters/File)

• NATO has declared that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance one day but also said Kyiv cannot join while at war
• Brekelmans, whose country is among NATO’s 32 members, said there were “very different opinions” in the alliance on the issue

BRUSSELS: NATO countries will need to discuss conditions for Ukraine to get a membership invitation and to join the alliance in response to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “victory plan,” Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on Friday.
Zelensky presented the five-point plan publicly for the first time this week, including a call for an immediate NATO invitation to make clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow’s invasion would end with geopolitical defeat.
NATO has declared that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance one day but also said Kyiv cannot join while at war, as that could lead to a direct conflict between NATO and Russia.
Alliance leaders have so far avoided a direct response to Zelensky’s new push for an invitation.
Brekelmans, whose country is among NATO’s 32 members, said there were “very different opinions” in the alliance on the issue.
To reach the necessary consensus, he said, allies would need to agree clear criteria that Ukraine would need to meet to get an invitation and others required to later become a member.
“If you don’t have that clarity upfront, I don’t see (that) 32 allies agree to granting an invitation,” he told reporters after a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
Asked what conditions Ukraine might need to meet, Brekelmans cited fighting corruption.
“If you want to modernize the Ukrainian armed forces, and have involvement of other countries, then I can imagine that you also want to assess the progress that Ukrainians make on that dimension,” he said.