The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky he followed his classic strategy at NATO meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday: appeared aggressivepushed his allies beyond their comfort zone and returned home with less than he had said he wished to achieve, but more than seemed possible a few months ago.

In Vilnius Zelensky did not leave much leeway to the leaders of the NATO countries from rejecting his request to give Ukraine a clear path to joining the Alliance.

However received assurances of unwavering support, new military aid commitments and a framework of security guarantees against Russia – proof of how much closer post-war Ukraine is to the Atlantic Alliance.

The Ukrainian president appeared angry and confrontational on Tuesday, the first day of the session, saying that it would be “irrational» if Kiev is not given a timetable for joining NATO.

Alliance leaders were forced to state this clearly: Ukraine cannot join NATO while the war lasts because that will means that the Alliance itself will find itself at war with Russia, something they are not willing to do. “Conditions” must be met, they explained, though no one specified what they were.

By the end of the session, and after meetings who was face to face with NATO leaders, including the American president Joe Biden, Zelensky dropped the tones, calling the result “good”, but not “ideal”.

“It is very important: for the first time since our independence, we gained a security foundation for Ukraine on its way to NATO“, emphasized the Ukrainian president, while adding that there was “good reinforcement with weapons”.

Kiev was not given an invitation to join NATO, but will not have to follow the Accession Action Plan (MAP), while the first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council aimed at managing the bilateral relationship was held and it was stressed that “the future of Ukraine is in NATO”.

“Ukraine is now clearly in the Euro-Atlantic camp (…) In my opinion, after this meeting, Ukraine is in a stronger place than it was a week ago,” said Neil Melvin, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute.

On the sidelines of the summit, the G7 countries presented one international framework to strengthen Ukraine’s long-term security vis-à-vis Russia. At the same time it was announced series of new military aid packages for Kiev.

Acceptance

As early as September, when Zelensky has been calling for a fast-track process for Ukraine to join NATO and has been working for Kiev to receive an invitation to begin its accession processadmitted that this will not be possible as long as the war lasts.

Yesterday Wednesday there were signs of acceptance by the Ukrainians that the deal NATO reached was the best they could have expected.

Zelenksi’s advisor, Mihailo Podoliak, in an interview he granted to Reuters from Kyiv, stated that he was “optimistic” about the outcome of the session.

“She is the first long-term support that Ukraine receives from a military point of view. These aid packages are not only for today but also for the years to come,” he added.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanysina said that Kyiv has come a long way since the 2008 summit in Bucharestwhen NATO had pointed out that at some point Ukraine will be able to join the Alliance, without, however, giving her any specific plan in this direction. But ambivalence about Ukraine’s future leaves it vulnerable, he added.

“Unfortunately, the Vilnius summit did not end the era of uncertainty, which is of decisive importance for our overall security (…) we can earn more. We have to win more”, underlined Stefanisina.

From his side Andrii ZagorodniukMinister of Defense of Ukraine in 2019-2020, stated that his country didn’t really expect to join NATO nownot even a timeline toward her entry, but she hoped she would receive something that would “create a road map” to admission.

“But that didn’t happen. It essentially said something like: Ukraine must meet some conditions. It is completely unclear what terms. When, what? Basically, nothing really,” he told Reuters by phone.

Nevertheless, he himself estimated that the session was very positive for Ukraine, referring to the announcements made on its sidelines, the NATO countries’ unwavering support for Kiev, as expressed in the final announcement, and the statement that the Alliance views Ukraine as its future member.

Announcements of more weapons will boost the morale of Ukrainian troops, Zagorodniuk noted.