– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did show up at the NATO summit in Vilnius, despite having made an official invitation - which he never received - the prerequisite to his attendance. He was, however, greeted by a huge crowd in the Lithuanian capital, and it was clear that the Baltic states are thinking along the same lines as they do in terms of membership, security policy expert Gyorgy Nográdi told Magyar Nemzet, recalling that about a week ago, Mr Zelensky said
that 23 out of the 31 NATO members would support the country's immediate admission, but 8 would not.
The US president also made it clear that Ukraine cannot not be admitted, because it would create an immediate world war situation. That said, a number of countries, including the United States, France, Britain and Germany, announced additional military assistance on the occasion of the summit.
Andriy Melnyik, Ukraine's State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and former ambassador to Berlin, warned the Germans "not to make the same mistake that Ms Merkel made at the NATO summit in Bucharest, of not taking them on."
Zelensky must realize that he cannot win this war. He must realize that he is living on Western aid and loans, and that he will never repay these loans, nor do I think that he wants to. It is obvious, and also crucial, what Zelensky said about three days ago, that he would continue the war alone if he did not receive additional US aid. This, however, is but a fairy tale, because he won't be able to continue,
– Gyorgy Nogradi emphasized, responding to a question from our paper.
Overall, NATO appears to be united in its refusal to go to war with Russia over Ukraine, and more and more American thinkers argue that the main enemy for the US is China, not Russia. Accordingly, secret negotiations between Moscow and Washington are ongoing and will continue, with the minimum objective being the avoidance of a new world war, and the maximum goal being to reach an armistice, where the Americans and Russians can agree. What the Ukrainians have to say about this is of no interest to anyone in the world, the security policy expert said.
So the fact that Ukraine received no invitation into NATO came as a cold shower for the country's president. On his social media, Zelensky called it absurd that the military alliance had not even outlined a timetable for Ukraine's accession. After a day of failure, Ukraine's president also looked rather lost at the banquet hosted by, and at the residence of, his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda, which US President Joe Biden simply skipped.
