NATO East Flank Supports Ukraine’s Membership, Say Poland, Romania, and Lithuania

 NATO East Flank Supports Ukraine’s Membership, Say Poland, Romania, and Lithuania

Leaders from Poland, Romania, and Lithuania reaffirmed their strong support for Ukraine’s pursuit of NATO membership following a summit of the NATO Bucharest Nine (B9) and Nordic countries held in Vilnius, Lithuania. The leaders emphasized their commitment to Ukraine’s "irreversible" path toward joining the alliance, despite recent U.S. political signals suggesting reservations.

The statement underscores NATO’s official stance, reaffirmed at last year’s Washington summit, that Ukraine has the right to choose its security arrangements and to seek NATO membership independently. The leaders called for increased pressure on Russia, including the introduction of more sanctions, to support Ukraine’s ambitions.

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This consensus comes as the NATO summit at The Hague later this month approaches. The gathering included Baltic, Eastern European, and Nordic nations such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and others. While the alliance has expressed support for Ukraine’s eventual membership, U.S. President Donald Trump has previously linked NATO expansion to escalation of the conflict and suggested that Ukraine should not join NATO under his administration.

Russian President Vladimir Putin demands that Western countries pledge in writing to halt NATO’s eastward expansion and lift some sanctions as conditions for ending the Ukraine war. Western leaders, however, maintain that Ukraine’s sovereignty to seek NATO membership is non-negotiable.