NATO to offer Ukraine continuing support but not immediate membership

BRUSSELS — NATO leaders will agree next week to help modernize Ukraine’s armed forces, create a new high-level forum for consultations and reaffirm that it will join their alliance one day, the organization’s top civilian official said Friday. But the war-torn country will not start membership talks soon.

At a two-day summit starting Tuesday in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts will also agree to boost defense spending as allies pour weapons, ammunition and other support like uniforms and medical equipment into Ukraine, 17 months into the war.

They also hope to welcome Sweden as the next member of the world’s biggest security organization, if they can overcome Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s objections, even though its accession would only be made official in coming months.

“For 500 days, Moscow has brought death and destruction to the heart of Europe, seeking to destroy Ukraine and divide NATO,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Friday. “At the summit, we will make Ukraine even stronger, and set out a vision for its future.”

Stoltenberg said the leaders “will agree a multi-year program of assistance to ensure full interoperability between the Ukrainian armed forces and NATO.”

A NATO-Ukraine Council – where crisis talks can be held – will be established. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky will attend the council’s first meeting in Vilnius on Wednesday

Stoltenberg said the leaders “will reaffirm that Ukraine will become a member of NATO and unite on how to bring Ukraine closer to its goal.” NATO first pledged that Ukraine would become a member one day in 2008, but things have evolved little since then.

Asked when, or how, Ukraine might join, Stoltenberg said that the “most important thing now is to ensure that Ukraine prevails.” The U.S., Germany and some other allies consider that Ukraine should not be invited in while it’s at war, so as not to encourage Russia to widen the conflict.

With Ukraine imploring its Western partners for more weapons and ammunition, and national military stocks among its partners depleting, NATO is encouraging the 31 allies to boost their military budgets.

In 2014, NATO allies pledged to move toward spending 2% of GDP on defense by 2024. In Vilnius, they will make 2% the minimum, but will not set any time frame for achieving that goal, NATO officials say. Under new estimates released Friday, only 11 of the allies will reach the 2% goal in 2023.

But Stoltenberg said that good progress is being made. “In 2023, there will be a real increase of 8.3% across European Allies and Canada. This is the biggest increase in decades,” he said, adding that European Allies and Canada will have invested over $450 billion extra since 2014.

Question marks remain about Sweden’s future at NATO. It abandoned a long history of military nonalignment last year to seek protection under the organization’s security umbrella after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Erdogan appears set to steal the summit limelight. He accuses Sweden of being too lenient toward groups that Ankara says pose a security threat, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt.

Hungary is also holding up approval of Sweden’s candidacy, but has never clearly stated publicly what its concerns are. NATO officials expect that Hungary will follow suit once Turkey lifts its objections.

The other 29 allies, Stoltenberg and Sweden have all said the country has done enough to satisfy Turkey’s demands. Sweden has changed its constitution, modified anti-terror laws and lifted an arms embargo on Turkey, among other concessions.

NATO requires the unanimous approval of all 31 members to expand.

Stoltenberg, Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will hold talks in Vilnius on Monday in an attempt to break the deadlock.

布鲁塞尔——北约最高文职官员周五表示，北约领导人下周将同意帮助乌克兰实现武装部队现代化，建立一个新的高级别磋商论坛，并重申乌克兰终有一天会加入北约。但这个饱受战争蹂躏的国家近期不会启动入盟谈判。

在周二于立陶宛首都维尔纽斯举行的为期两天的峰会上，美国总统乔·拜登和他的同行们还将同意增加国防开支，因为盟国正在向乌克兰大量提供武器、弹药和其他援助，如制服和医疗设备，此时乌克兰战争已经持续了17个月。

他们还希望瑞典能够成为世界最大安全组织的下一个成员，前提是他们能够克服土耳其总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安的反对意见，尽管瑞典的加入要到未来几个月才能正式生效。

北约秘书长延斯·斯托尔滕贝格周五对记者表示：“500天来，莫斯科给欧洲腹地带来了死亡和破坏，企图摧毁乌克兰并分裂北约。在峰会上，我们将使乌克兰更加强大，并为其未来描绘蓝图。”

斯托尔滕贝格表示，两国领导人“将商定一项多年援助计划，以确保乌克兰武装部队与北约之间实现全面互操作性”。

北约将设立一个北约-乌克兰理事会，用于举行危机谈判。乌克兰总统泽连斯基将于周三出席在维尔纽斯举行的理事会首次会议。

斯托尔滕贝格表示，两国领导人“将重申乌克兰将成为北约成员国，并就如何使乌克兰更接近其目标达成共识”。北约早在2008年就承诺乌克兰终有一天会加入北约，但此后进展甚微。

当被问及乌克兰何时或如何加入时，斯托尔滕贝格表示，“现在最重要的是确保乌克兰取得胜利”。美国、德国和其他一些盟国认为，在乌克兰处于战争状态的情况下不应邀请其加入，以免鼓励俄罗斯扩大冲突。

由于乌克兰恳求其西方伙伴提供更多武器弹药，而其伙伴国的国家军事储备也在减少，北约正在鼓励其 31 个盟国增加军事预算。

2014年，北约盟国承诺到2024年将国防开支占GDP的比重逐步降低至2%。北约官员表示，在维尔纽斯举行的北约会议上，盟国将把2%作为最低目标，但不会设定实现该目标的具体时间表。根据周五公布的最新预测，到2023年，只有11个盟国能够达到2%的目标。

但斯托尔滕贝格表示，目前进展良好。“到2023年，欧洲盟国和加拿大的实际投资额将增长8.3%。这是几十年来最大的增幅，”他说道，并补充说，自2014年以来，欧洲盟国和加拿大已额外投资超过4500亿美元。

瑞典在北约的未来仍然充满疑问。去年，在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后，瑞典放弃了长期以来的军事不结盟政策，寻求北约的安全保护。

埃尔多安似乎注定要成为峰会的焦点。他指责瑞典对安卡拉所称构成安全威胁的团体过于宽容，这些团体包括库尔德武装组织和与2016年未遂政变有关的人员。

匈牙利也迟迟不批准瑞典的候选资格，但从未公开明确说明其顾虑所在。北约官员预计，一旦土耳其取消反对意见，匈牙利也会效仿。

其他29个盟国、斯托尔滕贝格和瑞典都表示，土耳其已做出足够多的让步以满足土耳其的要求。瑞典修改了宪法，修订了反恐法，并解除了对土耳其的武器禁运，此外还做出了其他一些让步。

北约扩容需要所有31个成员国一致同意。

斯托尔滕贝格、埃尔多安和瑞典首相乌尔夫·克里斯特松将于周一在维尔纽斯举行会谈，试图打破僵局。