EXPERT COMMENT
The Vilnius gathering failed to advance a convincing pathway to membership, but Ukraine is determined to bring relations with NATO to the next level.
The Vilnius NATO summit came at a crucial time for Ukraine, as it continued a complex and treacherous counteroffensive against Russia. President Zelenskyy summarized the summit as ‘good, but not ideal'. So what went wrong and what went right?
The gathering of NATO heads of state was dominated by Ukraine. Vilnius was coloured in yellow and blue, with 33,000 Ukrainian flags around the city - an allusion to NATO soon having 33 members if Ukraine were to join after Sweden.
A flag from war-torn Bakhmut was raised in the city's central square and large crowds welcomed President Zelenskyy. Summit shuttles had stickers on them saying, ‘while you are waiting for the bus - Ukraine waits for NATO membership'.
But despite the extensive diplomatic effort and strong public push, a clear path to NATO membership was not delivered. This disappointed Kyiv but did not discourage it.
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