Zelensky’s angry tweet about NATO membership didn’t backfire on Ukraine – Washington Post
At the NATO summit, the US considered withdrawing its invitation to Ukraine
At the NATO summit in Vilnius, U.S. officials wanted to withdraw Ukraine’s invitation to join the alliance.
This was reported by The Washington Post, citing six people familiar with the matter.
According to the sources, Washington’s dissatisfaction was caused by Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Twitter post, in which he criticized the vague wording of the summit’s final communiqué and the lack of specific terms for Ukraine’s accession to NATO.
“It seems that there is no readiness to invite Ukraine to NATO or to make it a member of the alliance,” Zelensky wrote, calling the whole situation “unprecedented and absurd.” “Uncertainty is a weakness. And I will speak openly about this at the summit,” he concluded.
The statement “stunned” the NATO representatives in Vilnius and “enraged” the American delegation, according to WP sources.
Immediately afterward, ministers and other senior officials held informal talks on how the alliance should respond to Zelenskyy’s criticism.
U.S. officials suggested softening the wording of the communiqué to make it less favorable to Ukraine’s rapid accession to the alliance, three senior sources said.
“Some people wanted to remove the reference to ‘invitation’ or find another place for this word,” said one of the interlocutors who participated in the negotiations.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in particular, insisted on retaining the original wording. It was supported by the countries of Central Europe and the Baltic States.
As a result, a consensus was reached that rewriting the document would delay its publication and “in the end, those most concerned about Ukraine’s reaction concluded that it was better to stick with the text” as it was originally drafted.
“This sends a very clear and strong message to both Ukraine and Russia,” the source added.
Following a two-day NATO summit on July 11-12, the G7 countries signed a declaration on security guarantees for Ukraine. The office of the Ukrainian president said that this was an important victory on the way to joining the alliance. The summit also simplified the membership procedure for Ukraine and announced the establishment of the NATO-Ukraine Council.
According to the Washington Post, this incident illustrates dissatisfaction with the pressure tactics used by Volodymyr Zelenskyy within NATO. This week, even his most ardent supporters asked whether his emotional outburst was useful for Ukraine.
At the same time, the behind-the-scenes spat that Zelenskyy provoked showed how little the alliance can do about it: NATO countries are already involved in helping Ukraine, and many member states remain sympathetic to Zelenskyy’s demands for more active support.
Despite the dissatisfaction with the Ukrainian president’s publication, there was a general understanding that the leader of a country at war must show that he is ready to do anything to protect the interests of his people, the newspaper points out.
