NATO leaders have agreed at a summit in Vilnius that Ukraine's future lies within the alliance, but stopped short of handing Kyiv a formal invitation or a timetable for accession that the country has been seeking. Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference in Vilnius that NATO will extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the military alliance when "members agree and conditions are met." He, however, added that leaders have not set a timetable for Ukraine to join. "We reaffirmed Ukraine will become a member of NATO and agreed to remove the requirement for a Membership Action Plan," Stoltenberg said. The decision will change Ukraine's membership path from two steps to one step, he said. "Ukraine's future is in NATO," a declaration agreed by the leaders said, adding that Kyiv's Euro-Atlantic integration had moved beyond the need for NATO's so-called Membership Action Plan (MAP) — a sort of road map of military reforms that some allies have had to follow. "We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are met," the declaration said.

While leaders did not specify the conditions Ukraine needs to meet, they said the alliance would help Kyiv to make progress on military interoperability as well as on additional democratic and security sector reforms. They also decided to establish the NATO-Ukraine Council, "a new joint body where Allies and Ukraine sit as equal members to advance political dialogue, engagement, cooperation, and Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier said it would be "absurd" if NATO leaders gathering for a summit did not offer his country a ti

Speaking to thousands of people in Vilnius on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his call for membership of the alliance. "NATO will give Ukraine security, Ukraine will make NATO stronger," Zelenskyy said, standing alongside Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda. The Ukrainian president wants a clear timetable from NATO on bringing his country into the alliance. "Today I set off here with faith... in a NATO that does not hesitate, does not waste time. I would like this faith to become confidence — confidence in the solutions that we deserve," he said. Earlier NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said previous accessions to NATO have not been accompanied by a timeline, "They are conditions-based." Zelenskyy thanked the Lithuanians for taking in many Ukrainian war refugees. "The Ukrainian flags on the streets of Lithuania clearly prove that we are already allies and that Ukraine is defending its own and your freedom," he said. As Zelenskyy spoke, the Twitter tagline "#UkraineNato33" flashed behind him, alluding to Ukraine's plans to become the 33rd member of the military alliance after Finland and Sweden.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will grant their NATO allies full access to their shared airspace, the three countries' defense ministers agreed on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius. This means that all NATO countries will be able to use their shared airspace without prior notice. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania do not have their own combat aircraft. That is why NATO has been protecting the Baltic airspace since 2004. To this end, the allies regularly rotate combat aircraft and personnel. The units are stationed at military airports in Siauliai (Lithuania) and Amari (Estonia). In the coming year, the airspace will also be monitored from Lielvarde (Latvia).

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