Rishi Sunak has declared Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO and urged leaders to make “demonstrable progress” on when Kyiv can join the military alliance.
The Prime Minister said Britain is with Ukraine “for as long as it takes” and said Western leaders must send a strong message to Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin.
But Mr Sunak admitted Ukraine joining NATO is “not the question for right now, whilst they are in the midst of a conflict.”
Mr Sunak said ahead of the NATO Summit in Lithuania: “I’ve always said that Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato and that we stand by the language of Bucharest in 2008.
“I think what is important at this summit is that that commitment is reaffirmed and also that there is demonstrable progress towards that goal.”
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The Prime Minister said it is vital Western leaders show Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin that “everyone is in it for the long haul”.
He added iron-cast support for Ukraine could lead to President Putin abandoning his disastrous invasion of Ukraine.
He told reporters: “There is no point in just waiting out the West, and not just the West but the alliance of people that have formed to support Ukraine.
“Everyone is in it for the long haul and any thought he had that it would be over quickly has already proved to be false. He thought it would be all done and dusted in a few days.
“We need to make sure he realises that support is here to stay and the quicker he realises that, hopefully he changes his calculation about continuing with what is an illegal and unprovoked aggression.”
And Mr Wallace, in a huge boost for President Zelensky, said Ukraine is “not far off” membership as their forces have handed Russia a “heavy defeat”.
The Defence Secretary revealed Kyiv has carried out many of the reforms demanded of members by the alliance.
He said: “There are some steps that need to be met to get there, those steps involve the likes of making sure its military is up to standard.
“We can see right now that its military is up to standard, its military is taking on a far superior sized Russian force and has dealt them a heavy defeat.
“So I think overall, Ukraine is not far off membership. Obviously we’re an alliance of by then 32.
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“Everyone has to move at the same pace but Britain’s point of view is Ukraine belongs in NATO. We agree with the White House. We have to wait until this conflict is over but a lot of the reforms that were set out back in 2014 by NATO, accession rules, Ukraine has followed.”
The Defence Secretary, who pulled out of the running to become the next NATO Secretary General, added: “Whenever the conflict finishes, we should be prepared as quickly as possible to bring Ukraine closer.”
Ukraine’s President Zelensky, in a dramatic move, slammed NATO’s “absurd” offer to join the military alliance without setting out when.
The Ukrainian leader said Kyiv deserved “respect” and accused allies of leaving membership as a bargaining chip with Russia.
Mr Zelensky said the delay was providing Russia with the “motivation to continue its terror”.
In an extraordinary move as he travelled to the crucial summit in Vilnius, Mr Zelensky said: “It’s unprecedented and absurd when [the] time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership.
“While at the same time vague wording about “conditions” is added even for inviting Ukraine. It seems there is no readiness either to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the Alliance.
“This means that a window of opportunity is being left to bargain Ukraine’s membership in NATO in negotiations with Russia. And for Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror. Uncertainty is weakness. And I will openly discuss this at the summit.”
A draft agreement on Ukraine’s membership states NATO will “extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are met”.
But President Zelensky was given a huge boost last night as the leaders of the G7 agreed to provide Ukraine with more military equipment, intelligence, training programmes and commitments on joint exercises.
Britain, America, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada are expected to sign the Joint Declaration on Wednesday to bolster Ukraine’s long-term security.
Mr Sunak said it “will send a strong signal to President Putin and return peace to Europe”.
He said: “As Ukraine makes strategic progress in their counteroffensive, and the degradation of Russian forces begins to infect Putin’s front line, we are stepping up our formal arrangements to protect Ukraine for the long term.
“We can never see a repeat of what has happened in Ukraine and this declaration reaffirms our commitment to ensure it is never left vulnerable to the kind of brutality Russia has inflicted on it again.
“Supporting their progress on the pathway to NATO membership, coupled with formal, multilateral, and bilateral agreements and the overwhelming support of NATO members will send a strong signal to President Putin and return peace to Europe.”
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