NATO MEMBERSHIP AND SECURITY GUARANTEES: GETTING UKRAINE RIGHT AT THE VILNIUS SUMMIT - Brave Ukrainians have confronted unrelenting assaults on their homeland since the Russian Federation’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion in February 2022. Although support from the North Atlantic Alliance and its member states has been crucial to Ukraine’s resilience on the battlefield, a commitment to the continued to provision of humanitarian aid and military equipment cannot be the only outcome at the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius. NATO must revisit Ukraine’s future in the Alliance this July—something promised at the 2008 Bucharest summit but never delivered upon. The Alliance’s ability to get Ukraine right at the Vilnius summit with progress on the question of future NATO membership and security guarantees will be critical to not only securing Ukraine’s future, but that of the Alliance itself.

What security options might NATO consider in Vilnius to deter future Russian aggression and make progress on Ukraine’s membership after the war concludes? What tangible steps will be necessary to realize such guarantees following the summit? How might a path to membership and other security guarantees position Ukraine to prevail in its war with Russia and strengthen NATO’s collective security? To address these questions, the Atlantic Council will hold a public event to discuss ideas and solutions for securing Ukraine and advancing the country towards NATO membership in advance of the upcoming summit. Also under discussion at this event will be the Atlantic Council’s new report authored by the Hon. Franklin D. Kramer and Dr. Hans Binnendijk on “Providing Long-Term Security for Ukraine: NATO Membership and Other Security Options”.

Please join us for this conversation, hosted by the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security Initiative, in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 6/14/23