The UK is ready to support Ukraine's simplified NATO membership

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that London would be "very supportive" if Ukraine could go through a simplified process of joining NATO.

According to The Guardian, he said this at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.

Cleverly suggested that Britain would support the proposal that Ukraine would not need to go through the Membership Action Plan (MAP) stage to join the military alliance.

The MAP process involves candidate countries receiving assessments and advice as they take steps to meet NATO criteria in defense and other areas.

If Ukraine actually skips this stage, it would put it in the same category as new NATO member Finland. In contrast, North Macedonia had been fulfilling the MAP for 20 years before joining in 2020.

"We have seen Ukraine develop, and develop incredibly fast. Jens Stoltenberg said at an informal summit of NATO foreign ministers that in fact many of the requirements of the Membership Action Plan are already being met," Cleverly said.

"The reform of their armed forces is happening while they are involved in a conflict. I think the UK's position would be very, very favorable if we were to move away from MAP, recognizing that it was not required of Sweden and Finland and that the Ukrainians have demonstrated through their actions on the battlefield a commitment to reforming their armed forces in line with the requirements of NATO membership," the minister said.

Author - Olena Madiak, 21/06/2023