NATO allies to unveil Ukraine's 'path to membership' at summit

(Patria) - NATO allies at next week's summit in Washington will unveil a 'path to membership' plan for Ukraine and announce steps to bolster Kyiv's air defense, a senior US official said on Friday, Reuters reported.

"The allies will reaffirm that Ukraine's future is in NATO, they will make significant new announcements about how we are increasing NATO's military political and financial support for Ukraine. This is part of Ukraine's path to NATO," the official told reporters.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who is struggling to remain the candidate for re-election after a poor debate against Republican Donald Trump, will host NATO member leaders from Tuesday in Washington. Biden is expected to hold a rare solo press conference during the summit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who lobbied unsuccessfully for a political invitation to join NATO at last summer's Vilnius summit, said this year's summit should resolve the issue of inviting Kyiv to join. Zelenskiy is expected to attend the summit.

A senior U.S. official described the 'path to membership' plan as quite significant, which will include coordination of training, logistics, and force development. "This is a very serious effort to bring Ukraine into a position... where it will be ready to take up its roles and responsibilities within the alliance on day one," the official said.

A senior U.S. official also said that the U.S. and some NATO allies will announce new steps "to bolster Ukraine's air defense and military capabilities to help Ukraine defend itself today."