MOSCOW, May 17 Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that Ukraine cannot become a NATO member as long as the conflict continues, but Kiev's bid cannot be ignored.
«Ukraine cannot join NATO when the war is going on. But we cannot ignore the application (of Kyiv — ed.),» Kallas said in an interview with the Financial Times.
Estonian Prime Minister also considers it necessary to supply Ukraine with more long-range munitions. «They (Kyiv — ed.) do not want to attack Russia. But in order to defend themselves, they need a weapon that works further,» she said.
Earlier, Vladimir Zelensky said that Ukraine would not become a member of NATO until the end of the conflict, but would like the support of partners in the form of an invitation to the alliance today. At the end of September 2022, Zelensky announced that Ukraine was applying to join NATO on an accelerated basis. Carrying out such a procedure is now untimely, later the assistant to the President of the United States for national security Jake Sullivan noted. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, commenting on Zelensky's statement, acknowledged the bloc's unchanged position on the right of each country to determine its own path and on the «open door» policy, but stressed that the alliance would concentrate its efforts on helping Kiev. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, Kyiv will not be satisfied with any other decision of the NATO summit scheduled for July 11-12 in Vilnius, except for an invitation to the alliance.