Zelenskyy now celebrating NATO security commitments

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy celebrated security agreements and commitments reached at this year’s NATO Summit Wednesday, one day after publicly voicing his frustration with the alliance’s approach to engagement with Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia.

At a bilateral meeting with President Joe Biden in Vilnius, Lithuania, Zelenskyy, who attended the summit along with a delegation of Ukrainian officials, said the results of the summit were a win for Ukraine.

“I think by the end of summit, we have great unity from our leaders and the security guarantees — that is a success for this summit, I think so. It’s my opinion,” Zelenskyy said in response to a POLITICO reporter’s question Wednesday.

The comments come on the heels of frustrations Zelenskyy voiced on social media Tuesday with NATO over its refusal to allow Ukraine to immediately enter the alliance. NATO allies had reduced the steps needed for Ukraine to enter the alliance, waiving the requirement for a membership action plan, but acknowledged that concerns about corruption and the ongoing conflict in the country were barriers to Ukraine’s entry now. In response, Zelenskyy tweeted that the delay was “absurd.”

NATO leaders were unconcerned in public about his comments. When asked about Zelenskyy’s comments on Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg maintained that the package, and the expedited process for Ukraine’s entry, represented a “positive and unified” message to Kyiv and that it “moves Ukraine closer to membership.”

Yet Zelenskyy’s tweet rankled some lawmakers in the United States who saw the comments as ungrateful given the breadth of NATO, and in particular American, support for Ukraine amid its war with Russia. “We have given him $100 billion and he has the audacity to say we better speed it up. It's audacious,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on Fox News Tuesday, quoting a figure that includes humanitarian assistance and weaponry in addition to direct military aid. The U.S. has given over $40 billion in direct military aid to Ukraine since February 2022.

A State Department spokesperson also defended NATO’s hesitation to invite Ukraine into the alliance in a press conference Tuesday, adding, “There is an important reason why they are not becoming a member of NATO right now — because it would instantly put the United States in a shooting war with Russia.”

By Wednesday, after meeting with Stoltenberg and other leaders in Vilnius, Zelenskyy walked back his initial comments, saying in a tweet that Ukrainians “understand that Ukraine cannot become a member of NATO while the war is ongoing.”

Zelenskyy also expressed gratitude to the U.S. for its support in his meeting with Biden and other U.S. officials, saying Ukrainians "understand that it's more than 43 billions as of today. It's big support, and I understand that it's all your money, but you have to know that you spend this money for not, not just fighting. We spend this money for our lives." Zelenskyy also defended the U.S. decision to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions, pointing to Russia's usage of the weapons in the conflict.