The meeting of NATO leaders in Vilnius did not meet all of Ukraine's expectations, but did the July summit become a second Bucharest? Find out what the impact of the announced security guarantees will be and how the Vilnius summit changed Ukraine's future

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Ukraine did not receive an official invitation to join NATO during the Vilnius summit, but the country's Euro-Atlantic vector was nevertheless consolidated. After all, the simplified accession procedure agreed upon during the debate and some comments made by NATO leaders on Ukraine's membership in the Alliance created a solid foundation for future accession. So, why the Vilnius Summit is a historic event, what Ukraine gained from the meeting, and how it will affect the development of events - further in our article.

Is history repeating itself, and has Vilnius become the second Bucharest?

The wording about "fulfilled conditions" for NATO membership has caused a lot of debate and comments that the July summit in Vilnius turned into the Bucharest summit of 2008, when Ukraine was denied a Membership Action Plan (MAP). However, Western leaders assure that history will not repeat itself, because in 2008 Ukraine received only the prospect of a future MAP. And in fact, at that time, no one intended to implement it because Ukraine was more of a burden and risk for NATO countries than an opportunity to strengthen the Alliance. 

This is proved by the calls from Western countries at the beginning of the full-scale war that Ukraine should dig trenches and prepare for guerrilla warfare. No one expected the state to be able to withstand the "second army of the world." 

Today, however, we are talking about Ukraine's victory, and in the end, the country is getting the very weapons it has been demanding. And this is despite the fact that in the spring of 2022, there was no talk of tanks, long-range missiles, air defense systems, or aircraft. Moreover, Western countries confidently stated that they "will not provide Ukraine" with these types of weapons.

And the fact that NATO countries agreed to cancel the MAP for Ukraine is actually a very loud signal, given the fact that 15 years ago they did not even want to grant it to the country. 

"The results of the summit are good, but if there had been an invitation, they would have been perfect," Volodymyr Zelenskyy summarized the meeting of NATO members in Vilnius.

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Signals that indicate that Ukraine was expected in Vilnius

It is impossible not to notice how Vilnius prepared for Ukraine. "While you are waiting for your stop, Ukraine is waiting for the F-16" - these are the inscriptions on public transportation in the Lithuanian capital. And information boards displayed quotes from politicians who called for Ukraine's membership in NATO.

Moreover, the capital's city lights and billboards were full of apt jokes and loud appeals. The most popular ones were:

● "Take advantage of this fastest internet to speed up Ukraine's membership."

● "putin, The Hague is waiting for you"

● invitation to a Ukrainian party in Crimea.

Special attention should be paid to the civic initiative that took care of the blue and yellow flags. They were not only hung on administrative buildings, but also encouraged the local population to place the Ukrainian flag on their private balconies, so that the total number of blue and yellow flags reached 33,000, as a hint that Ukraine should become the 33rd member of NATO. And the flag, which was delivered directly from Bakhmut, was hoisted on the main square of Vilnius on the highest spire. 

Security guarantees for Ukraine and other important results of the NATO Summit in Vilnius

The most important issues that were resolved during the July meeting of NATO member states are:

● The direction of Ukraine's movement (official statements by NATO leaders that the country will become part of NATO after the war, and the allocation of financial assistance for internal development and reforms. More about the amount of funds to be provided to Ukraine is available here).

● Military support (several countries have announced additional aid packages, and they include a significant amount of heavy equipment, long-range missiles, air defense systems, and other important equipment).

● Security guarantees for Ukraine (a plan of security guarantees was agreed with the G7 countries, so each of the G7 countries will work with Ukraine on specific bilateral commitments).

In addition, an important step on the country's path to the Alliance is the establishment of the NATO-Ukraine Council. This is a completely new format in which the state can independently convene meetings, both regular and crisis, without waiting for an invitation.

The final loud signal was the statements made by the US President before and during his official meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"I hope that we are finally done with the idea of whether they want to see Ukraine in NATO or not. It will happen. We are moving on, we are moving in the right direction," Joe Biden summarized.

We look forward to the victory and believe that Ukraine will achieve all its goals! And no longer will russia be able to lay its hands on the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine!

We remind you! Surprisingly, today the leader in the number of Ukrainian refugees is not Poland. We told you where Ukrainians have temporarily settled and what percentage of them have expressed their readiness to return to Ukraine if it becomes a NATO member in our previous article.

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