Ukraine's sudden NATO membership hardly possible, action plan needed - Lithuania's Nauseda

VILNIUS - Ukraine's sudden NATO membership is hardly possible, but Kyiv needs a clear path towards the Alliance, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda says.

"Of course, it would be very difficult to achieve full-fledged membership of Ukraine in NATO in the midst of this crisis. But we are not talking about full-fledged membership right now, we are talking about a timetable or a clear plan," he told the American TV channel CNBC on Tuesday.

Nauseda is now attending the World Economic Forum in Davos and stressed that the Alliance should stop saying that NATO's doors are open to everyone, but should rather make the move and find ways to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, despite it not being part of the bloc.

"This is not so easy to do, but I think this is one of the objectives of the NATO summit that will take place in Vilnius," the Lithuanian leader said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week he did not expect his country to be offered full NATO membership during the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius in July. Nevertheless, he hopes that allies will send a signal to his country about this prospect in the future.