Ukraine on ‘irreversible’ path to NATO membership, chief Stoltenberg says

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington on Wednesday that Ukraine’s acceptance into the world’s most powerful military alliance is “not a question of if, but when.”

The summit’s official declaration, which the Biden administration and other top NATO powers were reluctant to make, could spark a fierce reaction in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his 2022 invasion of Ukraine in part to block it from ever joining the Western alliance.

“As Ukraine continues its vital reforms, we will continue to support them on the irreversible path to NATO membership,” Mr. Stoltenberg said after a day of meetings with President Biden and leaders of the other 31 NATO member countries. “The work we are doing together now will ensure that when the time is right, Ukraine can join without delay.”

“In this dangerous world, friends and partners are more important than ever,” he added.

Questions about Ukraine’s future and NATO’s support as Russian forces have made small but steady progress in recent months have dominated the three-day summit.

Mr. Biden hopes to use the summit’s high-profile diplomacy to address mounting questions about his physical and mental stamina. He has scheduled a rare solo press conference for Thursday as the summit wraps up.

Although the term “irreversible” appears to ensure that Kyiv will become part of the alliance after it meets required democratic, economic and security reforms, the move falls short of an immediate NATO membership offer that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been seeking. The declaration also does not detail the specific steps that Ukraine must accomplish before it can become part of NATO.

“We reaffirm that we will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree, and conditions are met,” the statement said. “The summit decisions by NATO and the NATO-Ukraine Council, combined with allies’ ongoing work, constitute a bridge to Ukraine’s membership in NATO.”

Mr. Stoltenberg said the NATO leaders had agreed on a financial package for Ukraine and an organizational restructuring. It was seen partly as a way to preserve the alliance’s institutional support for Ukraine even if Mr. Biden loses to Republican candidate Donald Trump in the November election. NATO’s European command will oversee international security assistance to Kyiv, Mr. Stoltenberg said, under a command led by a three-star general and hundreds of dedicated personnel in Germany and across Eastern Europe.

The summit communique declared that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO” and that alliance members “will continue to support it on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.”

Giedrimas Jeglinskas, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former deputy defense minister in Lithuania, said NATO must provide Ukraine with a “credible” path to membership.

“Ukraine’s long-term security is impossible without membership in the world’s most powerful military alliance, while Europe’s security cannot be guaranteed without Ukraine in NATO,” he said. “Statements from leaders of NATO member states that they will do ‘whatever it takes’ to support Kyiv are no longer sufficient. Real steps to absorb Ukraine into the NATO family are needed.”

The communique also took a surprisingly blunt tone by criticizing China. The U.S. government has accused China of helping support Russia’s defense industry, though Beijing insists it is neutral in the war and has offered a vague peace plan.

The NATO leaders criticized China as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine and expressed concerns about China’s rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal and its capabilities in space.

“We call on the [People’s Republic of China], as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with a particular responsibility to uphold the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter, to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort,” the summit document read.

Building up NATO

Mr. Stoltenberg, who is stepping down after a decade in the top NATO job, said alliance members are providing forces to the command at a scale not seen in decades. More than 500,000 military personnel are in high readiness throughout Europe.

Mr. Stoltenberg noted that plans also include integrating new ballistic missile defense sites in Poland into NATO’s missile control system.

“The most important thing is that we now see that allies are stepping up when it comes to defense investments,” he said.

Only three NATO countries spent at least 2% of their gross domestic product on the military in 2014, when the allies agreed this should be the bare minimum. Mr. Stoltenberg said 23 member states will hit that mark this year.

“This makes a big difference and demonstrates that allies are taking security extremely seriously,” he said. “Those allies that are not yet there plan to be at 2% soon.”

Wednesday was NATO leaders’ first full working day in Washington, including the debut on the international stage of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The onetime human rights lawyer told fellow NATO leaders that his Labor government would continue the support for Ukraine that London provided under the Conservative government.

Mr. Starmer met with Mr. Biden and Mr. Zelenskyy, reaffirming his strong support for Ukraine against Russia. NATO is “clear-eyed about the threat of Russian aggression,” Mr. Starmer told the Ukrainian leader while revealing his government has given Kyiv a long-sought green light to use British Storm Shadow missiles, with a range of 155 miles, on targets inside Russian territory.

British press reports said Mr. Starmer was presenting to Mr. Biden a jersey from his favorite Arsenal soccer team during their one-on-one meeting.

Shoring up production

NATO countries were moving to shore up their weapons production capabilities as a hedge against the uncertain U.S. presidential election. They signed a nearly $700 million contract for more Stinger missiles and pledged to boost their own defense production. Ukraine announced the opening of a small government defense office in Washington as it monitors the U.S. campaign debate over the war.

Mr. Stoltenberg told reporters he expects the alliance to agree to a “substantial package” for Ukraine. The package will include a new military command to provide security assistance and training. Kyiv will also receive immediate military support, including air defense systems.

Several NATO states are signing bilateral security agreements with Ukraine. Norway separately announced it was making six of the Nordic nation’s F-16 fighter jets available to the Ukrainian military by the end of the year.

“These elements constitute a strong bridge for Ukraine to membership in the alliance,” Mr. Stoltenberg said. “I’m confident that the allies will recommit themselves to Ukraine becoming a member of NATO.”

As he has done in the past when asked about a NATO member’s domestic political situation, Mr. Stoltenberg steered clear of comments from Mr. Trump that allies were delinquent before he pressured them to pay up when he was president. The NATO head said bipartisan support for the alliance is in Congress and among the American public. Washington will remain a “strong and staunch” NATO ally regardless of the outcome of this year’s presidential election, he added.

“It is in the U.S. security interest to have a strong NATO. [It] is good for Europe, but it is also good for the United States,” he said. “It makes the United States stronger and safer because in NATO it has what no other major power has: allies.”

The vote of confidence in Ukraine and the promise of NATO membership was welcome news to Mariia Hlyten, who was participating in a pro-Ukrainian rally outside the hall where alliance leaders had gathered. Ukraine Rally D.C. has been on the streets since virtually the start of the war in February 2022, seeking U.S. and Western aid in the battle to turn back Russia’s aggression.

Ms. Hlyten said she had come all the way from Ukraine to show her support and demand change after witnessing the war’s destruction firsthand.

“I was there when the war broke out. I was in Kyiv during the bombing in my basement for about a week. And then me and my family went to the suburbs and got occupied, so we could not get access to food, water, medical supplies, anything,” she said. She noted the summit was being held just as news was breaking that a Russian missile had hit a children’s hospital in her hometown, killing at least 31 people, including some of the young patients at the facility.

Ms. Hlyten said her family sent her pictures of the missiles that flew above their heads just moments before the attack.

“I’m here to advocate for them and for all the fellow citizens of my country,” she said.

• Lizzy Donker contributed to this report.