Lithuania: Parliament urges NATO to invite Ukraine to join at next summit

The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has passed a resolution calling on NATO to invite Ukraine as a new member at the defence alliance’s next summit in Washington in July 2024, BNS reports. The unanimous resolution noted that Ukraine was a provider of security that would strengthen NATO. The MPs pointed out that having Ukraine as member was more cost-effective than the defence support currently provided to Ukraine. Zygimantas Pavilionis, chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, warned of the threat of a “bad peace” if Ukraine’s NATO membership was not approved. Ukraine formally applied to join NATO in September 2022.