BEYOND THE SUMMIT: OUTCOMES AND THE PATH FORWARD TO UKRAINE’S NATO MEMBERSHIP - This month’s NATO Summit was a historic one, marking seventy-five years for the Alliance that is currently faced with unprecedented challenges threatening democracy and stability across the globe. Bolstered by the newer additions of Finland and Sweden, the summit held in Washington, DC, focused on several main topics, but none more important than thwarting Russian revisionism, which means providing Ukraine the means to win the war and taking clear steps toward Ukraine’s eventual membership in NATO.

Last summer, the Allied nations chose not to offer Ukraine a direct invitation to join the Alliance, instead settling on a vague promise to invite it to the Alliance “when allies agree and conditions are met.” The lead-up to this year’s summit was marked by speculation and advocacy around taking bolder steps to enhance NATO-Ukraine cooperation in ways that make clear Ukraine would eventually join the Alliance.

The Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, the Ukrainian World Congress, and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America gathered a panel of experts following the NATO Summit to examine the following questions from different national perspectives: what were the key outcomes for Ukraine and how might they shape the future of Ukraine’s defense against and NATO’s attitude toward Russia’s aggression in Ukraine? What do the NATO Summit’s outcomes suggest about the implications for strengthening transatlantic solidarity through Ukraine’s path toward NATO membership, and what message might the summit’s decisions send to the Kremlin and other autocratic leaders? What more needs to be done now to build on or move forward from the outcomes for Ukraine at the summit?

The experts reviewed the summit’s response to Russian aggression and address how to secure and carry out an irreversible, collective commitment to Ukraine’s security, and consequentially, the security of the Euro-Atlantic community.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 07/12/2024