Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told his parliament while presenting his 'victory plan' on Wednesday that future membership in the NATO alliance is a central part of the plan.
The military bloc’s secretary general Mark Rutte, who recently took over after Stoltenberg's term expired, responded in a generally positive manner to this, expressing that his vision is for Ukraine to eventually become a member; however, comments made 'between the lines' which were intended as a message caution are sure to disappoint Kiev.
Referencing the Washington-hosted summit of NATO leaders in July, Rutte said that "Ukraine will be a member of NATO in the future. That is what we decided in Washington." He claimed that Ukraine's path to NATO was deemed "irreversible".
While many Western media headlines seized on this 'path to membership' aspect of his remarks, Rutte at one point admitted that another nation could be in line first.
He spelled out that another candidate may "pop in front" in the line, following the recent admission of Sweden and Finland. The following words of the NATO chief:
"At the moment it seems that it will be Ukraine as number 33 but maybe somebody else pops in front of him," Rutte said.
With this remark it has become clear that there is no guaranteed timeline of Ukraine's accession whatsoever.
As for Zelensky's victory plan, it is has received a less than enthusiastic response in the West. Rutte in reflecting on it called the plan "a strong signal from Zelensky" but also included a key caveat: "That doesn't mean that I here can say I support the whole plan," he said.
"The plan has many aspects and many political and military issues we really need to hammer out with Ukrainians to understand what is behind it, to see what we can do, what we cannot do," he added.
"In the meantime we will continue massive military aid moving into Ukraine. Russia has to understand we will keep on doing that as long as they continue the war effort," the NATO leader pledged.
Still, Ukraine has complained this aid is not coming fast enough, or in large enough quantities. At this point Russian forces are capturing new towns and villages in Donetsk on a weekly basis and could soon conquer the whole of the Donbass.
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