Stoltenberg, Nausėda confirm that NATO has reached consensus on abolition of MAP for Ukraine

They announced this at a joint press conference on the eve of the Vilnius summit.

According to the NATO Secretary General, the cancellation of the MAP will speed up Ukraine's accession to the Alliance.

"Member states will consider Ukraine's aspirations to be a member of NATO and Ukraine's future place, of course, in NATO. I expect that we will agree that progress will be made even without the MAP aspects," Stoltenberg said.

At the same time, he emphasized that Ukraine will receive a corresponding invitation to join the Alliance when NATO members agree that the conditions meet the necessary needs. So far, no final decision has been made.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda called the decision to cancel the Member Action Plan "a clear step that Ukraine will not miss" on its way to NATO. He emphasized that this would make Ukraine's accession process easier.

"We emphasize that under specific conditions, Ukraine really has every chance to become a NATO member. We are moving forward step by step. Therefore, Ukraine really needs concrete signals now so that the country understands that all this is real not only on paper," the Lithuanian leader said.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter that NATO had agreed to cancel the Membership Action Plan for Ukraine's future accession to the Alliance.

“Following intensive talks, NATO allies have reached consensus on removing MAP from Ukraine's path to membership. I welcome this long-awaited decision that shortens our path to NATO,” Kuleba tweeted. 

The foreign minister emphasized that this is also the best time to clarify the invitation to Ukraine to become a member.

For reference: The Membership Action Plan (MAP) is NATO's program for accepting candidate countries. It was approved in 1999 and has since been used by 11 European countries. But last year, the Alliance invited Finland and Sweden to join NATO without the MAP, so Ukraine also insisted on bypassing this program. So Ukraine may not need a plan to follow the example of Finland and Sweden.