Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, pushed NATO on Thursday to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the military coalition and dispatch more fighter jets and long-range missiles.
Zelensky was speaking during Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO, who was making his first trip to Kyiv since the beginning of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
While Ukraine claims the invasion further strengthens its long-running NATO membership push, Russia views Ukraine’s application as an existential threat.
A NATO summit in July, according to Zelensky, “could become historic” if Ukraine were to get a formal invitation to join.
“It is time to take the appropriate decision,” Zelensky said, speaking at a press conference with Stoltenberg.
He also requested aid from NATO to “overcome the reluctance” of some members to contribute long-range rockets, cutting-edge fighter jets, and armored vehicles.
Ukraine has received some fighter jets from the Soviet era from NATO nations, but despite Ukraine’s requests, no new aircraft, such as the US-designed F16, have been promised.
Long-range rockets have also been resisted by Ukraine’s Western backers because of worry that they would be used by Ukraine to strike Russian targets.
Stoltenberg did not hold out any imminent hope of alliance membership but said the alliance would “ensure that Ukraine prevails” against Russia.
“Ukraine’s future is in NATO, all allies agree on that. At the same time, the main focus of the alliance, or allies now, is to ensure that Ukraine prevails,” he said.
