VILNIUS, July 11 (Reuters) – NATO leaders agreed at a summit in Vilnius that Ukraine’s future lies within the alliance, but stopped short of delivering Kiev the invitation or membership timetable the country has been seeking. .
At the same time, NATO removed the requirement for Ukraine to comply with a so-called Membership Action Plan (MAP), effectively removing an obstacle in kyiv’s path to the alliance.
“Ukraine’s future lies in NATO,” said a statement agreed to by the leaders on Tuesday, adding that kyiv’s Euro-Atlantic integration had gone beyond the need for a Membership Action Plan.
“We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when the allies agree and the conditions are met,” the statement said.
While the leaders did not specify conditions Ukraine must meet, they said the alliance would help Kiev advance military interoperability as well as further democratic and security sector reforms.
(This story has been re-archived to remove an odd word from the headline)
Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Andrew Gray and John Irish, editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout
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