Following the announcement, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted that he came to the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, hoping NATO would be an organization that « doesn’t hesitate, waste no time and look back on no aggressor…it’s too much to expect? »
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian leader withdrew his criticism, saying: « I think by the end of the summit, we have great unity from our leaders and the security guarantees – this is a success for this summit, I think so. »
On Sunday, Sullivan acknowledged that while the alliance fully supports Ukraine, there are conditions the country will need to meet before it can officially become a member of NATO, including ending its war with Russia.
Admitting Ukraine while the war is on would require NATO to join its defense, Sullivan said.
“Ukraine’s entry into NATO while the war is on would mean that NATO was at war with Russia, it would mean that the United States was at war with Russia. And neither NATO nor the United States was willing to do that,” Sullivan said on ABC’s This Week.
Sullivan also noted that every country that joins the alliance has to make some democratic reforms.
“Ukraine has made a lot of progress on this path. He has more reforms to do,” she said.
« And at the end of the day, President Biden and President Zelenskyy stood together before the world, and President Zelenskyy said that while he didn’t get everything he wanted, he was very pleased with the results of the NATO summit and very pleased with the support it is receiving from its Western partners,” added Sullivan.
