Zelensky fumes as NATO rejects fast-track entry process for Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is livid as NATO countries declined to set a timetable for Kyiv's entry into the alliance amid the ongoing Russian invasion.

The member countries, at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, agreed to create a Ukraine-NATO council and to support closer relations with Kyiv, but declined to fast-track its admission or set a timetable at all, The Hill reported. President Joe Biden stands as one of the biggest detractors to such a plan, though other members of NATO remain hesitant to make more definite promises on admission to Ukraine.

NATO's refusal to set a timeline earned Zelensky's ire.

"Ukraine will be represented at the NATO summit in Vilnius. Because it is about respect," he said. "But Ukraine also deserves respect. Now, on the way to Vilnius, we received signals that certain wording is being discussed without Ukraine. And I would like to emphasize that this wording is about the invitation to become NATO member, not about Ukraine's membership."

"It’s unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine's membership. While at the same time vague wording about "conditions" is added even for inviting Ukraine," he continued. "It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the Alliance."

"This means that a window of opportunity is being left to bargain Ukraine's membership in NATO in negotiations with Russia. And for Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror," he declared. "Uncertainty is weakness."

Ukraine has sought definite commitments from NATO to admit it as a method of deterring Russia in its invasion. The alliance, however, maintains a collective defense article that would likely be invoked should Ukraine join mid-war, essentially dragging the whole alliance into the conflict.

Russia has identified Ukraine's push to join the alliance as one of its key reasons for invading the country.

The rejection of Ukraine's speedy admission comes as Washington moves to send highly controversial cluster bombs to Kyiv to bolster its war effort. The weapons effectively serve as shotgun missiles by dispersing dozens of smaller submunitions to target hostiles over a wide area. Human rights groups have condemned their use due to the propensity to inflict civilian casualties.

The submunitions have a high failure rate, meaning many remain undetonated for years until disturbed by civilians after the conflict, potentially inflicting additional casualties. Neither Ukraine, nor Russia, nor the U.S. has signed an international treaty banning their use, though the Biden administration last year contended that Russian use of cluster munitions could constitute a war crime.

Former President Donald Trump condemned the Biden administration on Tuesday for sending such munitions to Ukraine, warning that the president "is needlessly and dangerously leading us into World War III."

Trump further addressed Biden's stated rationale for their delivery, namely that the U.S. was running out of conventional ammunition with which to provide the Ukrainians.

"There could be no more vivid proof that Joe Biden's policy of endless war in Ukraine has tremendously weakened the United States than the humiliating admission that the USA is now out of ammo, something our enemies are undoubtedly salivating over," he said. "This 'admitted' weakness is an invitation to enemies all over the world."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.