The US State Department promises that NATO members will outline expectations regarding Ukraine’s membership.

NATO will offer Ukraine “concrete ways” to accelerate its future membership in the North Atlantic Alliance during a summit next week in Washington, said Douglas Jones, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.

The final declaration is expected to confirm that Ukraine will become a member of NATO, but the specific wording is still being agreed upon. Also, during the summit the alliance will discuss how to help Ukraine protect itself from Russian aggression now, how to deter Russia in the future, and how to prepare for NATO membership.

Foreign ministers from 35 non-NATO partner countries are also invited to the summit in Washington. The participants include the foreign ministers of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and the UAE. Also, this will be the third summit in a row in which not only the heads of state of all 32 NATO member countries will take part but also the leaders of the Indo-Pacific partner countries: Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.