CHRIS MEGERIAN, LORNE COOK AND SEUNG MIN KIM
NATO leaders gathered on Wednesday to launch a highly symbolic new forum for ties with Ukraine, after committing to provide the country with more military assistance for fighting Russia but only vague assurances of future membership.
U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts will sit down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the new NATO-Ukraine Council, a permanent body where the 31 allies and Ukraine can hold consultations and call for meetings in emergency situations.
The setting is part of NATO’s effort to bring Ukraine as close as possible to the military alliance without actually joining it. On Tuesday, the leaders said in their communique summarizing the summit’s conclusions that Ukraine can join.
The ambiguous outcome reflects the challenges of reaching consensus among the alliance’s current members while the war continues, and has left Zelenskyy disappointed even as he expressed appreciation
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