Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, challenged a German DPA report suggesting that Kyiv’s hopes for a rapid NATO entry may have faded, calling the piece a collection of dated misjudgments that no longer reflect reality.
In the run up to the Vilnius NATO summit, German media outlets cited anonymous sources to claim that steps toward membership could divert attention from providing stronger help to Ukraine. Nikolenko dismissed these claims as outdated errors, noting that they do not capture the current strategic calculus among NATO allies.
He asserted that Ukraine’s accession to the alliance would serve NATO’s long-term interests and pressed partners to demonstrate leadership. Ukraine, he argued, is not a source of risk for the alliance but an asset that enhances collective security. The path toward NATO membership would, in his view, bolster the security guarantee for all member states.
Earlier coverage from the DPA had suggested that hopes for early entry might be fading. The report hinted that key allies, including the United States and Germany, appeared less willing to make commitments beyond NATO’s broad 2008 framework, complicating Kyiv’s membership prospects.
At the close of April, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba noted concerns about whether there was sufficient political will within the alliance to move Ukraine toward membership, underscoring the ongoing debate within Western capitals about the pace and scope of enlargement.