The two-day summit of the military alliance NATO in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, ended on Wednesday afternoon.
As on the first day, the main focus of the meeting was on how strongly NATO is committed to supporting Ukraine militarily and promising the country a path to becoming a member of the military alliance.
This article summarizes the most important events from the second day of the Vilnius Summit.
Zelenskyi praised NATO after yesterday’s criticism
The president of Ukraine arrived at the summit today Volodymyr Zelenskyi was clearly the most followed character of the day.
Yesterday, Zelenskyi criticized the vague language of NATO’s statement, as NATO did not set a timetable for the realization of Ukraine’s NATO membership. Instead, Ukraine was promised to be invited to become a member of the military alliance when the “conditions” are met and all NATO countries agree on the matter.
Today, Zelenskyi was more conciliatory in his speech and said that the outcome of the negotiations was good for Ukraine, even though the invitation of Ukraine to NATO did not progress perfectly from the country’s point of view.
Zelenskyi was satisfied that NATO decided not to require Ukraine to participate in the so-called training program in order to apply for membership.
Zelenskyi participated, among other things, in the first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council established at the Vilnius Summit. The goal of the Council is to help create the framework for Ukraine’s NATO membership.
Zelenskyi praised, that the council is not only a tool for participating in meetings, but a genuine tool for the integration of NATO and Ukraine. He said that the Council creates the feeling that Ukraine will become a member of NATO in the future.
Also the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg assured at the press conference that concluded the summit that the countries of the military alliance will continue their long-term military support to Ukraine.
Stoltenberg also emphasized that peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine will only start when Ukraine itself is ready for them.
– Ukraine cannot be agreed upon without Ukraine, Stoltenberg said.
The G7 countries pledged to support Ukraine
During the day, Zelenskyi also met the leaders of the G7 group of leading industrialized countries in Vilnius. The G7 signed a security agreement with Ukraine, in which Ukraine was promised defense materials, training and intelligence sharing.
The G7 countries did not commit to providing Ukraine with security guarantees directly, but the agreement agreed to start negotiations on the more vague provision of “security commitments and promises” to Ukraine.
Leading researcher of the Institute of Foreign Policy, who followed the summit in Vilnius Charly Salonius-Pasternak comments that the concrete content of the agreement between the G7 countries and Ukraine has not yet been clarified and the ambiguous language of the agreement has also been considered, as different words have slightly different meanings for different groups.
Zelenskyi said the agreement allows for bilateral negotiations with Ukraine and the G7 countries, and this is a “significant security victory” for Ukraine.
Also the President of the United States Joe Biden assured that the G7 countries’ support to Ukraine will continue with the agreement long into the future.
– The United States is doing everything to ensure that we deliver what you need as quickly as possible, Biden told the media with Zelensky next to him.
Zelenskyi, on the other hand, expressed his gratitude for the support given by the United States. According to Zelenskyi, the meeting between him and Biden lasted more than twice as long as planned.
Niinistö praised the unified atmosphere of the summit
Finland participated in the Vilnius Summit for the first time as a NATO member. The president who led the Finnish delegation Sauli Niinistö said after the end of the meeting at a press conference that the exact date of the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership could not be determined today.
President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan didn’t elaborate on the schedule in his own press conference either, but said that the ratification will take place at the earliest when the Turkish parliament returns to session in October.
Niinistö said that he had also discussed the matter with the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán with. Orbán assured that Hungary will not be the last country to ratify Sweden’s membership. This suggests that Sweden will probably become a NATO member next fall.
Niinistö praised the general atmosphere of the Vilnius summit as being united.
– This is where a unanimous and unified opinion for the world comes out. If we think about Finland’s goals, we emphasized the importance of unity. Of course, support for Ukraine and Sweden, these were our goals. There was a lot of agreement about them too, Niinistö said.
Regarding the possibility of Ukraine’s NATO membership, Niinistö said that membership is not possible while the war is going on. However, Niinistö emphasized that NATO moved “from two steps to one step” when the requirement to participate in the training program was waived in the case of Ukraine.
– As long as the criteria are met, then Ukraine will be invited to become a member, Niinistö said.
Niinistö praised President Biden, who is arriving in Finland tonight, for his “very strong” work to develop NATO. Biden is very likely to host the next NATO summit, as next year’s meeting will be held in Washington.
Biden is scheduled to give a speech at Vilnius University tonight, after which he will fly to Helsinki tomorrow for the Nordic-US summit.
Read also: The security agreement between the G7 countries and Ukraine is a response to Russia, which is trying to tire Ukraine and the West, according to Ilmari Käihkö