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NATO to make political decision in Vilnius on Ukraine's entry — Ukrainian deputy premier

At the same time, Olga Stefanishyna noted that Kiev currently lacks clarity about what specific signals it might receive in Vilnius as to what NATO might offer

MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/. NATO member states should make a political decision on Ukraine's accession to the organization at the bloc's summit in Vilnius on July 11-12, Olga Stefanishyna, Ukrainian deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, told the RBC-Ukraine news agency.

"The summit in Vilnius cannot be successful or meaningful without political clarity about Ukraine's membership in NATO. And there are no political or legal restrictions that would prevent the allies from issuing a political invitation to Ukraine for membership [in NATO]," she stated.

At the same time, the deputy prime minister noted that Kiev currently lacks clarity about what specific signals it might receive in Vilnius as to what NATO might offer. "There are a number of proposals, but so far there is no such readiness [to green-light Ukraine’s accession] on the part of the alliance," Stefanishyna pointed out.

She also called it inappropriate to discuss any timeframe for Ukraine's accession to the alliance, before the end of hostilities or subsequently.

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine's accession to the organization was impossible while the conflict was ongoing, and that both the bloc’s member states and Kiev understood this. Stoltenberg also noted that the bloc's summit in Vilnius planned to bring Ukraine closer to the alliance by creating a Ukraine-NATO Council and providing a multi-year program of military supplies to the Kiev government.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that statements by Kiev about joining NATO demonstrated the Ukrainian authorities’ unwillingness and inability to resolve the conflict at the negotiating table. He stressed that Russia would seek to ensure its own security, which necessarily precludes any possibility for NATO to expand by approving Ukraine's accession bid and, thereby, bringing the North Atlantic Alliance that much closer to Russia’s borders.

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