Germany plans to postpone Ukraine's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance during the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12 for fear that Ukrainian membership will lead to a war between the bloc and Russia, according to a NATO official who spoke with British news source The Telegraph.
According to the source, Germany plans to call on NATO members at the summit to focus on increasing security guarantees rather than on a potential membership bid.
"Time is needed to develop guarantees that would essentially block membership... Berlin does not want Putin to potentially test Article 5," the source told The Telegraph.
The next NATO summit will take place in Vilnius on July 11-12, where the topic of the Russia-Ukraine war is expected to occupy a high place on the agenda. Despite this, the alliance has not made any promises to Ukraine about extending a membership offer, and has instead expressed an intention to bring Ukraine "closer" to the alliance.
Countries are split about whether to support a Ukrainian membership bid, with some offering full support for Ukraine and others remaining weary about the potential drawbacks of sponsorship.
Dinara Khalilova
