Volker: NATO's uncertainty on Ukraine encourages Putin to rebuild Russian empire

Volker said this during an online discussion at the Kyiv Security Forum, Radio Liberty reports.

According to Volker, the summit in Vilnius was in fact a repetition of the summit in Bucharest in 2008, when it was stated that Ukraine's place in NATO was in the future, but no deadlines were set and no relevant processes were launched.

"Repeating these vague words does a lot of harm. It tells Putin: go ahead and fight as long as you want. We had to do the opposite - to show that Putin's intention to restore the Russian empire will not come true. Instead, we are now encouraging him to do so," Volker said.

The diplomat noted that the summit should have sent Putin a signal about Ukraine's membership prospects.

"No one should have thought that NATO would issue an official invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance immediately. It was always a question of whether NATO was sending the right signals to Putin about the prospects of Ukraine becoming a member. Unfortunately, we have not seen such a signal," Volker said.

What is known about the first day of the summit and Ukraine's accession to NATO

On July 11, the NATO summit in Vilnius adopted a package of decisions on Ukraine: the Membership Action Plan stage is cancelled, and the country will receive an invitation to join the Alliance after fulfilling the requirements for accession and consent of all allies.

The Allies agreed on a final communiqué on Ukraine and reaffirmed the 2008 commitment that Ukraine would become a NATO member. The document also acknowledged that Ukraine's path to full Euro-Atlantic integration has now moved beyond the requirements of the Membership Action Plan. 

The member states stressed that Ukraine is becoming more operationally and politically integrated with the Alliance and has made significant progress on its reform agenda. NATO Foreign Ministers will regularly assess progress through the Annual National Programme, it added.  

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reacted to the decisions of the Vilnius NATO summit following the first day, saying that the Alliance should not delay Ukraine's accession to the military-political bloc.

Russia also commented on the summit. Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that World War III is getting closer. He complained about the increase of military aid to Ukraine.