VILNIUS. July 12 (Interfax/BNS) - Polish President Andrzej Duda has said he hopes that Ukraine will become a NATO member in a few years, but its admission is impossible for now because of the ongoing conflict.
"I hope that Ukraine will become a full-fledged member of our alliance in a few years," Duda told reporters on Wednesday, as he commented on the decision of NATO leaders on Ukraine's membership made in Vilnius.
The NATO leaders decided on Tuesday that Ukraine will be invited to NATO once all member states agree on that and Kiev meets certain conditions.
"In my opinion, this is absolutely insufficient," Duda said.
The decisions made on Tuesday did not add clarity on Ukraine's admission to NATO, he said.
"It is very difficult to make a schedule and practically impossible to speak about Ukraine's full-fledged membership now, as decisions in NATO are made by consensus," Duda said.
This cannot happen now because of the ongoing conflict and NATO's collective defense commitments, he said.
The alliance decided to drop the Membership Action Plan requirement for Ukraine and to establish the NATO-Ukraine Council, while also approving a long-term support plan for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier that all NATO members agreed Ukraine could not be admitted to the alliance as long as the hostilities were in progress.
"The war is going on in Ukraine [...], and therefore, I think that all the allies agree that when the war is going on that's not the time for making Ukraine full member of the alliance," Stoltenberg said at the press conference.
Stoltenberg added that Ukraine's admission to NATO would require a certain upgrade of its defense and security institutions and enhancement of government agencies, including those fighting corruption. He noted that the same requirements were set for every future member of the alliance.
This is the only way to achieve complementarity between armed forces of the member states, Stoltenberg said.