Lithuania to propose NATO provide Membership Action Plan to Ukraine

07.04.2021 15:16

Ukrinform

Lithuania will propose that NATO Allies provide a Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Ukraine, thus allowing the country to become a member of the Alliance, according to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.

He said this at a press conference following a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya, who is on a visit to Vilnius, Lithuanian news site Delfi reported.

"We should soon write a letter to our colleagues so that they reconsider the possibility of providing a MAP to Ukraine. [...] I am convinced that NATO could have repeated its proposal on providing a Membership Action Plan to Ukraine, and we have just started to agree on this issue with our colleagues from the Baltic States," Landsbergis said.

According to him, this would be "a strong signal to Russia that Ukraine is choosing a transatlantic direction, and it has received a response among NATO countries."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stressed the importance of granting Ukraine the NATO MAP.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Brussels on February 9, following talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, that NATO Allies recognized Ukraine as a potential candidate for NATO membership and provided practical assistance in implementing reforms to meet NATO standards.