NATO summit to unveil concrete steps for Ukraine's membership - senior U.S. official

Douglas Jones, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, said this in an interview with Voice of America, Ukrinform reports.

"The United States and all NATO allies have said that Ukraine's future is in NATO. At this summit, we will be rolling out concrete ways in which NATO can help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression, build the future force needed to deter Russia, and implement the reforms it needs to make itself a stronger candidate for eventual NATO membership. Together, this is what we describe as a bridge to NATO membership. The assistance that we're going to be rolling out at the summit will really help accelerate Ukraine on its path to NATO membership," Jones said.

Summit organizers are understood to be leaning toward language in a final declaration that would say Ukraine's path to NATO is "irreversible," but the official would say only that the wording is still being negotiated.

Foreign ministers from 35 non-NATO member partners are invited to attend the Washington summit. Notable attendees include the foreign ministers of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

For the third consecutive summit, heads of state from all 32 NATO allies will engage in discussions with leaders from its Indo-Pacific partners: Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

"Russia is seeking weapons from the DPRK as it looks for ways to continue its assault and aggression against Ukraine. The connections are deep. That's why we'll have the leaders of NATO's Indo-Pacific partners at the summit: to discuss how we can learn from each other and cooperate in addressing these common security challenges," Jones said.

From July 9 through July 11, Washington will host the 75th anniversary of the NATO Summit.