At least seven countries are against Ukraine’s immediate membership to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including Germany and the United States, as well as Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Belgium, and Spain, according to Politico, citing four anonymous U.S. and NATO officials and diplomats.
“Germany and the U.S. are among the major powers slow-walking [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy’s call for an immediate invitation to join NATO,” the report says.
Zelenskyy’s victory plan to end the ongoing war is under threat since it relies on an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO. Some key members of the Alliance are concerned about being drawn into a war with Russia.
“The alliance has not, to date, reached the point where it is prepared to offer membership or an invitation to Ukraine,” U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said in an interview with Politico.
Hungary and Slovakia are against this initiative due to their current populist leaders’ generally pro-Kremlin stances, the publication notes.
“Countries like Belgium, Slovenia or Spain are hiding behind the U.S. and Germany. They are reluctant,” said one NATO official.
A second official said that countries “support it in the abstract but once it gets closer to materializing” they will start to balk at the idea more publicly.
Despite these challenges, all officials who spoke with Politico said that neither the U.S. nor Germany is ruling out the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO.
Meanwhile, Kyiv has denied the claims made by Politico.
“The media report that seven countries oppose inviting Ukraine to NATO is inaccurate,” said Serhii Nykyforov, the press secretary of the President’s Office, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
In reality, the idea of inviting Ukraine has overwhelming support among member states, and advocacy efforts are underway regarding the remaining countries, Nykyforov said.
“These rumors are beneficial to those who want to create a false impression that Ukraine’s accession does not have broad support among the Alliance members,” he added.