Could Turkey Summit See Start of NATO Accession for Ukraine?

Ukraine’s push to join NATO is gaining momentum because the alliance increasingly sees Kyiv as a military asset, not a burden, an analyst with the Atlantic Council think tank has told TVP World ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey.

“NATO needs Ukraine,” said foreign policy expert Diane Francis, arguing that Kyiv has become a military leader in technology and battlefield experience. 

She said there was “no question” in her mind that Ukraine would eventually join the alliance, especially as the United States under President Donald Trump appeared less willing to lead Europe’s defense. 

Francis added that the next alliance meeting in Turkey on July 7 and 8 will be “probably the most important NATO summit in its history.”  

‘They’ve got to get Ukraine into NATO’ 

Francis said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Estonia on Wednesday showed that Nordic and Baltic states strongly support Ukraine’s NATO ambitions. 

She told TVP World that this was not surprising because countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are on NATO’s eastern flank and understand the threat from Russia, as does Poland. 

She added that Ukraine could receive more than symbolic support at the summit in Turkey, possibly even including the start of an accession process. 

“I don’t think there is any doubt in anyone’s mind that they’ve got to get Ukraine into NATO,” Francis said. 

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But she added the process could take time because NATO remains cautious about provoking Russia. 

“NATO is really Russia’s principal enemy,” she said, adding that European decision-making often moves slowly because “everything’s done by committee.” 

Europe to step up? 

Francis also said that Donald Trump’s criticism of European defense spending was “not exactly without merit,” because many NATO members had failed to allocate enough to their militaries. 

She said Europe would now have to take on a greater role in NATO, especially countries such as Poland, Britain, France and Turkey. 

The United States, she said, may reduce its role but does not want to destroy NATO. 

She added that Europe must stay united and make clear that Ukraine “is going to be in.”