Nato acknowledged the need to move more quickly but declined to provide a timeframe in a communiqué.
Earlier, Mr. Zelensky stated that there appeared to be “no readiness” to invite or admit Ukraine to NATO.
He is currently in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, where the summit is taking place.
Despite acknowledging that it cannot join NATO while at war with Russia, Kyiv hopes to do so as soon as the combat is over.
Nato leader Jens Stoltenberg said allies had agreed to do away with the formal requirement for a membership action plan and had reiterated that Ukraine would join Nato during a briefing on Tuesday afternoon.
According to him, this will convert Ukraine’s two-stage membership process into a single step.
However, Mr. Zelensky tweeted that the lack of a timetable meant that the eventual membership of his nation may be used as a negotiating chip.
“There is still time to negotiate Ukraine’s membership in NATO during talks with Russia. He declared, “Uncertainty is weakness.
His remarks come after disagreements among NATO countries on Ukrainian membership.
Some worry that Ukraine’s almost automatic membership will encourage Russia to escalate and prolong the conflict brought on by its full-scale invasion of its southern neighbor.
NATO stated in its communique that Ukraine had improved its reform efforts and had become “increasingly interoperable and politically integrated with the alliance.” Further reform would be supported by member nations, it stated.
On Wednesday, Mr. Stoltenberg will meet Mr. Zelensky during the Nato-Ukraine Council’s maiden meeting.
A day after Turkey decided not to oppose Sweden entering the military alliance, the conference is taking place.
Sweden’s application had already been obstructed by Turkey for months due to allegations that it was harboring extremist Kurds. After Finland, which borders Russia, joined the alliance in April, the nation will now be the organization’s 32nd member.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, both nations declared their determination to join NATO.
The summit on Tuesday also included the announcement of a number of military initiatives for Ukraine.
At a center that will be established in Romania in August, a coalition of 11 nations will begin training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets built in the US, according to officials.
The US authorized its Western partners to provide Ukraine with modern airplanes in May, including the long-desired F-16s, a substantial improvement over the Soviet-era aircraft it is now flying.
Ukraine had pressed its Western partners repeatedly to send jets to support its recently launched counteroffensive, which aims to recapture territory taken by Russia.
The training of Ukrainian pilots to fly and control Western jets, according to experts, would take some time.
Meanwhile, Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defense minister, was quoted by Russian news outlets as warning that if the US provided controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine, Moscow would be forced to employ “similar” weapons.
The weapons disperse bomblets over a large region, and more than 100 nations have outlawed them due to the harm they cause to civilians.
Russia, according to Mr. Shoigu, has similar cluster munitions but has not yet employed them.
According to rights organizations, cluster munitions have been deployed by both Russia and Ukraine during the 17 months of hostilities since Russia’s invasion in February.
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