Germany intends to block the decision on the imminent membership of Ukraine in NATO, this follows from an internal government secret document, which was at the disposal of the publication Bild. Also, the information was confirmed by sources of the publication in the government of Germany.
On the eve of the NATO summit, representatives of the member countries of the alliance agree on the wording that will be contained in the final document.
According to Bild, France, Great Britain, Poland and the Baltic countries are in favor of Ukraine's entry into NATO as soon as possible. However, Germany and the United States advocated adherence to the "Membership Action Plan" adopted in 2008. According to the document, before joining NATO, Ukraine must perform a number of actions and comply with NATO standards in all major areas: political, economic, military, legal. However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on the eve of the summit that the country would join NATO without implementing this action plan, and the members of the alliance had already agreed to exclude this stage. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has not yet announced an official decision on this matter.
The United States, according to Bild, has a softer position and agrees to abandon the long-term "Action Plan" for Ukraine, subject to further reforms. “We wanted to offer Ukraine a model of Finland, that is, joining within a few months, as soon as hostilities end,” one of the American diplomats told the publication on anonymous terms.
Olaf Scholz's government, in turn, insists on the inappropriateness of any wording about "Ukraine's almost ready entry into NATO", and will demand compliance with the plan.
According to the publication, on the evening of July 10, representatives of Germany will meet in Vilnius with other NATO partners and try to find a compromise on the issue of Ukraine's membership. “In the worst case, on Tuesday [July 11], the heads of government will have to connect themselves,” the source said.
In September 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Kiev would apply to join NATO on an accelerated basis. According to him, the Ukrainian authorities proved to the alliance that the country meets its standards. He made a statement after the signing by Vladimir Putin of agreements on the accession of the "LDNR", Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to Russia.