Issue of MAP for Ukraine absolutely legitimate, NATO consensus needed – French ambassador

22.04.2021 17:50

Ukrinform

French Ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins has predicted that the issue of giving Ukraine a NATO Membership Action Plan will be discussed at the NATO summit in June, but he recalled that consensus for its adoption was needed.

The diplomat said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"This issue [of granting the MAP to Ukraine] is absolutely legitimate and I think it will be considered at the NATO summit in June. But the decision belongs to the competence of the Alliance as a whole and it will be made in this format," de Poncins said.

At the same time, in his opinion, the issue of moving towards the prospect of granting Ukraine the MAP is currently "not urgent."

"Ukraine's task today is to implement NATO's Enhanced Opportunities Partnership program, which it joined last summer," the ambassador said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that during talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris on April 16, he raised the issue of granting Ukraine a NATO Membership Action Plan.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Andrii Taran said on April 22 that Ukraine expected that the seriousness of its Euro-Atlantic intentions would be taken into account at the NATO summit on June 14 and would be reflected in the organization's documents.