‘We need more’ before Ukraine can join NATO, says Stoltenberg

WASHINGTON ― A day after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted NATO leaders had “confirmed” it would become a member, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made clear no such action was imminent.

Stoltenberg’s remarks came a day after President Joe Biden refused to give a “yes” or “no” to Ukraine joining NATO while at the alliance’s annual summit in Brussels on Monday. Biden did say during a press conference that the U.S. and other NATO allies affirmed support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“Ukraine is an aspirant country,” Stoltenberg told the Washington-based Defense Writers Group on Tuesday. “We provide support to them, especially to continue to modernize and refine their defense and security institutions, civilian-political control over their security services, and not least fighting corruption.”

He added: “We have different building-integrity programs, which are very much about how to fight corruption as part of the reforms ... which Ukraine has already embarked on, but we need more. We need to do more with them to make sure they are fully implemented.”

“To agree on the membership action plan, you need consensus among 30 allies. This was not the focus of this summit,” Stoltenberg said.

On Monday, the summit ended with the release of a joint communique that reaffirmed NATO’s 2008 decision for Ukraine to become a member through a membership action plan, or MAP ― though there’s no timetable mentioned. Meanwhile, Kyiv is working to adopt NATO-mandated reforms both to strengthen it against Russian interference and move it towards membership.

Ahead of a summit between Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Geneva on Wednesday, Kyiv has appeared eager to interpret its interactions with Biden and NATO in its favor.

In its initial readout of a call between Zelenskyy and Biden, Zelenskyy’s office claimed Biden emphasized the importance of offering Ukraine a specific roadmap for joining NATO. But it then changed that version to clarify it was Zelenskyy who pushed for providing Ukraine with a membership action plan; it said Biden promised that Kyiv’s position will be taken into account when discussing strategic issues within NATO.

“Commend @NATO partners’ understanding of all the risks and challenges we face,” Zelenskyy said in a tweet. “NATO leaders confirmed that [Ukraine] will become a member of the Alliance & the #MAP is an integral part of the membership process. [Ukraine] deserves due appreciation of its role in ensuring Euro-Atlantic security.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, right, speaks with U.S. President Joe Biden during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels on June 14, 2021. (Stephanie Lecocq/AP)

When Biden was asked Monday whether NATO had allowed Ukraine to join, he said it would depend on Ukraine’s anti-corruption activities and its implementation of NATO’s criteria to get to the membership action plan.

“And so it’s, you know, school’s out on that question. It remains to be seen,” Biden said, adding: “It will not just depend on me whether or not we conclude that Ukraine can become part of NATO. It will depend on the alliance and how they vote.”

Meanwhile, Biden said, the U.S. would “do all that we can to put Ukraine in the position to be able to continue to resist Russian physical aggression.”

Ukraine has been locked in a tense tug-of-war with Russia ever since the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula following the ouster of Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly president in 2014 and a Russia-backed separatist insurgency in the country’s east — a conflict that has killed more than 14,000.

In an interview on Russian state television, Putin issued a strong, new warning that the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO was unacceptable for Russia. He noted it would allow the alliance’s missiles to reach Moscow and other key targets in western Russia in only seven minutes, a destabilizing situation that he said was comparable to Russia putting its missiles in Mexico or Canada.

Last week, the Pentagon announced a previously teased $150 million security aid package to Ukraine, which included counter-artillery radars, counter-unmanned aerial systems, secure communications gear, electronic warfare and military medical evacuation equipment.

The $125 million package announced in March included armed Mark VI patrol boats, counter-artillery radars, tactical equipment, support for a satellite imagery and analysis capability, and equipment to support military medical treatment and combat evacuation procedures.

Pentagon officials also highlighted steps Kyiv has made on reforms ― including its passage of a defense procurement corruption law ― as well as five more things it must do to conform to Western standards.

“The United States is committed to assisting Ukraine with the implementation of these reforms, and we maintain a robust advisory effort to help modernize Ukraine’s military in line with NATO principles and standards,” said the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, Laura Cooper.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.

华盛顿——乌克兰总统泽连斯基在推特上表示北约领导人已经“确认”乌克兰将成为成员国的第二天，北约秘书长延斯·斯托尔滕贝格明确表示，近期不会采取此类行动。

斯托尔滕贝格发表上述言论的前一天，美国总统拜登周一在布鲁塞尔举行的北约年度峰会上，拒绝就乌克兰加入北约的问题给出明确的“是”或“否”的表态。不过，拜登在随后的新闻发布会上表示，美国和其他北约盟国重申支持乌克兰的主权和领土完整。

斯托尔滕贝格周二在华盛顿的国防记者协会表示：“乌克兰是一个有抱负的国家。我们向他们提供支持，特别是帮助他们继续推进国防和安全机构的现代化和完善，加强文官对安全部门的政治控制，以及打击腐败。”

他补充道：“我们有不同的廉政建设项目，这些项目都旨在打击腐败，作为乌克兰已经开始的改革的一部分……但我们需要更多。我们需要在这些项目上投入更多精力，以确保它们得到全面落实。”

斯托尔滕贝格说：“要就成员国行动计划达成一致，需要30个盟国达成共识。但这并非本次峰会的重点。”

周一，峰会闭幕，双方发表联合公报，重申北约2008年关于乌克兰通过成员资格行动计划（MAP）加入北约的决定——但公报中并未提及具体时间表。与此同时，基辅正努力落实北约要求的各项改革，旨在增强自身抵御俄罗斯干预的能力，并推动乌克兰最终加入北约。

在拜登和俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京周三于日内瓦举行峰会之前，基辅方面似乎急于将其与拜登和北约的互动解读为对其有利的。

泽连斯基办公室最初发布的通话记录显示，拜登强调了向乌克兰提供加入北约具体路线图的重要性。但随后，该办公室修改了声明，澄清是泽连斯基主动推动向乌克兰提供入盟行动计划；声明称，拜登承诺在北约内部讨论战略问题时，会考虑基辅的立场。

泽连斯基在推特上表示：“我赞赏北约伙伴国对我们面临的所有风险和挑战的理解。北约领导人确认乌克兰将成为北约成员国，而#MAP（北约成员国身份认定机制）是入盟进程中不可或缺的一部分。乌克兰在维护欧洲-大西洋安全方面发挥的作用理应得到应有的认可。”

2021年6月14日，在布鲁塞尔举行的北约峰会期间，北约秘书长延斯·斯托尔滕贝格（右）与美国总统乔·拜登举行双边会晤。（Stephanie Lecocq/AP）

周一，当拜登被问及北约是否允许乌克兰加入时，他表示，这取决于乌克兰的反腐败活动以及其是否执行北约的入盟行动计划标准。

“所以，这个问题目前还没有定论。结果还有待观察，”拜登说道，并补充道：“乌克兰能否加入北约，不仅仅取决于我，还取决于北约的投票结果。”

与此同时，拜登表示，美国将“尽一切努力使乌克兰有能力继续抵抗俄罗斯的武力侵略”。

自 2014 年乌克兰亲莫斯科总统被罢黜后，俄罗斯吞并克里米亚半岛，以及俄罗斯支持的乌克兰东部分离主义叛乱以来，乌克兰一直与俄罗斯处于紧张的拉锯战之中——这场冲突已造成超过 14,000 人死亡。

普京在接受俄罗斯国家电视台采访时发出新的强硬警告，称乌克兰加入北约的前景对俄罗斯来说是不可接受的。他指出，乌克兰加入北约将使北约导弹能够在短短七分钟内抵达莫斯科和俄罗斯西部其他重要目标，这种破坏稳定的局面堪比俄罗斯将导弹部署在墨西哥或加拿大。

上周，五角大楼宣布了此前预告的向乌克兰提供 1.5 亿美元安全援助的计划，其中包括反炮兵雷达、反无人机系统、安全通信设备、电子战设备和军事医疗后送设备。

3 月份宣布的 1.25 亿美元方案包括武装的 Mark VI 巡逻艇、反炮兵雷达、战术装备、卫星图像和分析能力支持，以及支持军事医疗和战斗撤离程序的设备。

五角大楼官员还重点介绍了基辅在改革方面取得的进展，包括通过了国防采购反腐败法，以及为符合西方标准还必须做的五件事。

“美国致力于协助乌克兰实施这些改革，我们将继续提供强有力的咨询，帮助乌克兰按照北约原则和标准实现军队现代化，”负责俄罗斯、乌克兰和欧亚事务的国防部副助理部长劳拉·库珀表示。

美联社对本报道亦有贡献。

乔·古尔德是《防务新闻》的资深五角大楼记者，负责报道国家安全政策、政治和国防工业的交汇点。他此前曾担任国会记者。