Draft NATO summit communiqué includes 'irreversibility' of Ukraine's membership - CNN

One of the sources, a US official, said that the White House supports the use of the word "irreversible" in the final communiqué if the document also confirms that Ukraine's work on democratic reforms should continue. The official said that the final version will contain this term.

While many Europeans have emphasized the need for strong language on Ukraine's future in the alliance, US and German officials have suggested using the word "bridge" for Ukraine's membership in NATO.

However, officials also emphasized the importance of "tangible measures" to support Kyiv's continued fight against Russia, according to a European diplomat.

A senior US administration official said on Friday that the alliance would make "significant new announcements about how we’re increasing NATO’s military, political and financial support for Ukraine" as part of the "bridge to NATO."

US officials have publicly declined to discuss the details of the joint communiqué ahead of the summit, which starts on July 9.

Language

The strength of the guarantees that Ukraine must provide for its future membership in NATO has been a key point of debate among the alliance's 32 members before this week's summit in Washington. The draft may change in the final version, but the inclusion of the phrase "irreversible" will send an important signal.

"There is rightly considerable focus on what Allies will say about Ukraine’s membership path in the summit declaration. The language will be clear and forceful. It will recognize Ukraine’s vital ongoing reform efforts and demonstrate Allied support for Ukraine on its path to NATO membership," Michael Carpenter, senior adviser for Europe at the US National Security Council, said at a briefing on Monday.

A senior administration official said on Friday that what they "described in terms of the bridge to membership and the deliverables that NATO will be unveiling for Ukraine is quite substantial."

“We’re not talking about some sort of plan for how they’re going to get from here to there. We’re talking about standing up an entire command at Wiesbaden, and we’ll look at how we do these various pieces that I mentioned earlier – training, coordination, equipping, coordination, logistics, force development. This is a very serious effort to get Ukraine in a position, as I said earlier, where it will be ready to assume its roles and responsibilities within the alliance on day one,” he said.

Leaders are gathering in Washington on July 9-11 for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, which will also mark the 75th anniversary of the military alliance.

According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, NATO members will agree on a significant package for Ukraine at the summit.