The US, Germany and Hungary are resisting efforts by countries such as Poland and the Baltic states to offer Kiev deeper NATO ties and clear statements of support for future membership, four people involved in the talks told the Financial Times April 6.

Differences were made clear at the NATO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Brussels this week, with Allied officials set to spend the next two months negotiating ahead of the leaders’ summit in Vilnius in July.

“The talks are taking place amid warnings from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he will attend the summit only if tangible steps are presented towards NATO membership. Such as post-war security guarantees or deeper cooperation with the alliance. Not yet NATO: why Ukraine will not join the alliance in the near future And why Zelensky decided to apply for membership in the military bloc in the accelerated mode did not increase after the admission to the bloc of Finland. The material indicates that the main barrier to considering Kyiv’s application for membership in the alliance is the current conflict that the country is waging with Russia.

On April 4, Finland officially became the 31st member of NATO. The office of the Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, in turn, stated that the country’s accession to the alliance is not directed against anyone, but the status of an ally state requires new thinking from Helsinki.

In February, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said that Ukraine expects to receive an invitation to join NATO in June. The NATO summit in Vilnius is scheduled for 11-12 July 2023.

On September 30, 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the country had applied to join NATO on an accelerated basis. However, Assistant to the US President for National Security Jake Sullivan stressed that the expansion of the alliance is now untimely.