Lithuania says Ukraine should get compensation if NATO cannot accept it as member

At the second European Political Community [EPIC] Summit held in Moldova on June 1, Thursday, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said that the North Atlantic Alliance [NATO] must offer compensation to Ukraine if the war-ravaged country cannot become a member of the Western military bloc. Lithuanian President said at a presser that his country cannot repeat "empty words" about the open doors policy of NATO if Ukraine cannot be incorporated into it. 

NATO's "open door policy" is based on the bloc's Article 10 of the Washington Treaty, which underscores that the membership to the Alliance is open to any "European State in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area." North Atlantic Treaty Organisation [NATO] chief Jens Stoltenberg had previously reiterated that while Ukraine will eventually become a member of the Western Defensive Alliance, his primary focus is that the country must first prevail against Russian aggression.

Ukraine's entry in NATO: A risk of triggering Article 5, collective defence protocols

Stoltenberg pledged North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's continued support for Ukraine, all the while declaring, that Kyiv's future “is in NATO." While NATO supports Ukraine's application to the bloc, it cannot grant the in-conflict country membership yet as it is at war with Russia. Such a move would trigger Article 5, and collective defence protocols of the defensive bloc. NATO's principle of collective defence is at the centre stage of NATO’s founding treaty, which states that an attack against one Ally is considered an attack against all Allies. NATO  invoked Article 5 for the first time in its history after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US. 

Lithuanian President at the EPIC summit noted that while the international partners understand that they cannot offer Ukraine membership in NATO during the ongoing war, they must give the country some form of security guarantees. This should include military and political support, as well as an institutional framework for closer cooperation between Ukraine and NATO, Nausėda reportedly stated. 

Vilnius NATO summit, he added, would discuss, inter alia, the post-war situation in Ukraine as well as the strengthening of the air defense of Poland and the Baltic countries that border Russia. Nausėda labelled the security situation of these states as "very serious," adding that it is, in fact, "getting worse." Lithuanian leader stressed that Russia's steadfast ally Belarus is also actively involved in the war, and has recently announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons that will be transferred from Moscow.