With Ukraine pushing to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as leaders meet in Lithuania's capital Vilnius, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo sought to stress that NATO countries have maintained a “very delicate balance” over the past 17 months.
“We fully support Ukraine in its war against Russia but we must not become a party ourselves. We ourselves are not at war with Russia,” the Prime Minister said on Wednesday, during the second day of the NATO summit in Vilnius.
“We have managed to keep that delicate balance very well,” he said. “Were we to go to war with Russia, it would not be a good thing for our security and it would not be a good thing for Ukraine either.”
The Prime Minister was able to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Lithuanian capital on Tuesday evening. The latter is very grateful to NATO countries for their support, the Belgian premier said. “That support is much broader than we ever thought. When he asked for tanks, our first reaction was unconvinced. When he asked for F-16s, neither were we. But he managed to convince us of that.”
All in this together?
Despite the enormous political, financial, and military support that allies have provided Ukraine, whereas previous meetings with heads of state have given Zelenskyy a chance to feel almost part of major international organisations, this week's summit in Vilnius has exposed the limits of this close relationship.
The Ukrainian premier dropped the diplomatic tone that he normally uses to portray Ukraine's invasion as an assault on Europe and the West. Whilst Western leaders have previously gone along with this narrative, the sensitive question of joining NATO has led to a rare break in the portrayal of Ukraine's concerns being of equal concern to its allies.
Zelenskyy didn't hide his frustration on Tuesday evening when he decried the lack of readiness for Ukraine to join NATO, implying that the organisation has been duplicitous in its treatment of the invaded nation. A joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday might see Zelenskyy depart from his normal conciliatory overtures.
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De Croo said that additional security guarantees for Ukraine will be explained at the summit on Wednesday, including by the G7 countries. “Our country is going to look at how we might be able to participate in those military programmes,” De Croo said. “All that should help him achieve one thing and that is peace in Ukraine. That will lead to the ultimate security guarantee and that is becoming part of NATO.”
Zelenskyy will take part in the first session of the new NATO-Ukraine Council on Wednesday. In that council, Ukraine can sit on an equal footing with its allies. “Ukraine is not a member of NATO or the EU but in the way we deal with them, we are not far from that anymore,” De Croo said. “His connection with the NATO countries is very direct and that is a good thing.”
