Volodymyr Zelensky eyes ‘the best possible’ outcome from Vilnius summit

The Ukraine President hopes the meeting will give a ‘clear signal’ on the intention to bring Kyiv into the alliance.

Volodymyr Zelensky meets Andrzej Duda in Lutsk. Picture: AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky overnight on Sunday voiced hope for the “best possible result” from an upcoming NATO summit where Kyiv is hoping for a clear signal that it could one day join the alliance.

After meeting his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, Mr Zelensky said the two discussed the summit, which opens on Tuesday in Vilnius, and agreed to “work together to get the best possible ­result for Ukraine”.

Poland, one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters within NATO, has said it wanted “security guarantees” for the country from other NATO members.

Mr Zelensky has said he does not expect Ukraine to actually join NATO until after the war but he hopes the summit will give a “clear signal” on the intention to bring Ukraine into the alliance.

US President Joe Biden, who arrived on Sunday in Britain on his way to the NATO summit, said he hoped the military alliance leaders would “lay out a rational path for Ukraine to be able to qualify to be able to get into NATO”.

Mr Zelensky returned from Turkey on Saturday – the 500th day of Russia’s full-scale invasion – after a regional tour to drum up support ahead of the summit with Western allies, which have pledged billions in military aid.

He was accompanied by five top commanders from the Azov regiment who were supposed to have remained in Turkey until the end of the conflict under a prisoner exchange deal with Moscow.

Their return to Ukraine angered the Kremlin, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov quoted by Russian news agencies on Saturday as saying it was “a direct violation” of the agreement with Turkey. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke to Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Sunday and the two discussed the issue of the Azov commanders, the Russian foreign ministry said.

Mr Biden hopes to use the summit to pressure Turkey to drop its opposition to Sweden’s all-but-cleared NATO membership bid.

In a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, Mr Biden “conveyed his desire to welcome Sweden into NATO as soon as possible”, the White House said. Mr Erdogan’s office said separately he would meet with Mr Biden on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius. Speaking aboard the US presidential plane, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed Mr Biden and Mr Erdogan “will have the opportunity to sit down in Vilnius” but the scheduling was still being worked out. Mr Sullivan said Sweden’s accession into NATO was only “a matter of timing.”

“If we get it done by Vilnius, great,” he said.

The Turkish presidency, however, said Mr Erdogan had re­affirmed to Mr Biden his long­standing position that Sweden still needed to crack down harder on suspected Kurdish militants to win Turkey’s support.

Mr Zelensky last week won a US pledge for cluster munitions that could inflict significant damage to Russian forces. Washington’s decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs – banned across a large part of the world –has proved controversial.

Mr Sullivan on Sunday said Kyiv had pledged to use the munitions only on Ukrainian territory “where they have the highest incentive to limit impact to civilians, because it is Ukrainian citizens who would be at risk”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke on Sunday with his Ukrainian counterpart, who “gave further assurances” on how the cluster munitions would be used, Mr Sullivan said.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose country still grapples with deadly war remnants, on Sunday urged Ukraine not to use cluster bombs.

Russia, which uses cluster munitions in Ukraine, said the decision was an “act of desperation”.

AFP