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Ukraine’s defense official says it’s set to get NATO accession plan at Vilnius summit

According to the deputy head of the department, Vladimir Gavrilov, this will be done so that the bloc countries do not have "big problems with making a decision on Ukraine"

MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Gavrilov has said he believes the country will receive a NATO accession plan at the alliance’s upcoming summit in Vilnius.

"Ukraine is set to get a NATO accession algorithm at the Vilnius summit," he was quoted as saying in a Ukrainian Defense Ministry post on Telegram.

According to Gavrilov, the summit will adopt a procedure to remove any issues that NATO member countries might have with Ukraine’s membership.

NATO is to hold a summit in Vilnius from July 11-12.

On June 2, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that Kiev understands it’s impossible to join the alliance while fighting continues in the country. The day before, he said at the summit of the European Political Community that Ukraine is ready to join NATO, and is waiting for the alliance to be ready to accept it.

NATO adopted a statement at its summit in Bucharest in April 2008 that Ukraine will eventually become a NATO member, but did not provide a Membership Action Plan, which is usually the first step in the procedure for a country to join the organization. In February 2019, the Ukrainian parliament approved amendments to the constitution enshrining the country's aspiration to NATO. Zelensky has repeatedly stated that Kiev wants to get an idea of a specific timeline for joining the alliance.