WASHINGTON
\nAs the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues with no end in sight, NATO\u2019s much-celebrated unity faces fresh strains when leaders gather for their annual summit this week in Vilnius, Lithuania.
\nThe world\u2019s biggest security alliance is struggling to reach an agreement on admitting Sweden as its 32nd member. Military spending by member nations still lags behind longstanding goals. And an inability to compromise over who should serve as NATO\u2019s next leader forced an extension of the current secretary general\u2019s term for an extra year.
\nPerhaps most thorny are questions over how Ukraine should be eased into the alliance. Some maintain admitting Ukraine to NATO would be the fulfillment of a promise made years ago and a necessary step to deter Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. Others are fearful it would be seen as a provocation that could spiral into an even wider conflict.
\nBickering among friends is not uncommon, and the current catalogue of disputes pales in comparison to past fears that Donald Trump would turn his back on the alliance during his presidency. However, the challenges come at a moment when President Joe Biden and his counterparts are heavily invested in demonstrating harmony among members.
\n\u201cAny fissure, any lack of solidarity provides an opportunity for those who would oppose the alliance,\u201d said Douglas Lute, who served as US ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama.
\nRussian President Vladimir Putin is eager to exploit divisions as he struggles to gain ground in Ukraine and faces political challenges at home, including the aftermath of a brief revolt by the Wagner mercenary group.
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t want to present any openings,\u201d Lute said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to present any gaps or seams.\u201d
\nBy some measures, the Ukraine conflict has reinvigorated NATO, which was created at the beginning of the Cold War as a bulwark against Moscow. Members of the alliance have poured military hardware into Ukraine to help with its ongoing counteroffensive, and Finland ended a history of nonalignment to become NATO\u2019s 31st member.
\nThe US announced Friday it will provide Ukraine with the controversial cluster munitions. Such a bomb poses a higher risk of civilian harm as it opens in the air releasing smaller \u201cbomblets\u201d across a wide area, hitting multiple targets simultaneously. Ukraine has promised to use it carefully.
\nIn a statement on Saturday evening, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni \u2014 one of Western Europe\u2019s staunchest backers of Ukraine in the war \u2014 reiterated her country\u2019s condemnation of the Russian aggression but called for the \u201cuniversal application of the principles\u201d of the international convention banning the production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions.
\nUN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres \u201cwants countries to abide by the terms of that convention and so as a result, of course, he does not want there to be continued use of cluster munitions on the battlefield.\u201d
\nBut the ongoing war has allowed other challenges to fester or bubble to the surface.
\nIn particular, NATO leaders said back in 2008 that Ukraine would eventually become a member, but little action has been taken toward that goal. Putin occupied parts of the country in 2014 and then attempted to capture Kyiv in 2022, leading to the current war.
\n\u201cA gray zone is a green light for Putin,\u201d said Daniel Fried, a former US ambassador to Poland, and now a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council.
\nThe US and Germany insist that the focus should be on supplying weapons and ammunition to help Ukraine win the current conflict, rather than taking the more provocative step of extending a formal invitation to join NATO.
\nHowever, countries on NATO\u2019s Eastern flank \u2014 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland \u2014 want firmer assurances on future membership.
\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is pushing for that as well. During a visit to Prague on Thursday, he said the \u201cideal\u201d result of the Vilnius summit would be an invitation for his country to join the alliance.
\nNATO could use the occasion to elevate its relationship with Ukraine, creating what would be known as the NATO-Ukraine Council and giving Kyiv a seat at the table for consultations.
\nAlso in the spotlight in Vilnius will be Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the main obstacle blocking Sweden\u2019s attempts to join NATO alongside its neighbor Finland.
\nErdogan accuses Sweden of being too lenient on anti-Islamic demonstrations and militant Kurdish groups that have waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkiye.
\nSweden recently changed its anti-terrorism legislation and lifted an arms embargo on Turkiye. However, a man burned a Qur\u2019an outside a mosque in Stockholm last week, and Erdogan signaled that this would pose another obstacle. He equated \u201cthose who permitted the crime\u201d to those who perpetrated it.
\nTurkiye and the US are also at an impasse over the sale of F-16 fighter jets. Erdogan wants the upgraded planes, but Biden says that Sweden\u2019s NATO membership has to be dealt with first.
\nSullivan said the US is confident that Sweden will join NATO \u201cin the not-too-distant future,\u201d but it\u2019s unclear if the matter will be resolved during the summit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues with no end in sight, NATO\u2019s much-celebrated unity faces fresh strains when leaders gather for their annual summit this week in Vilnius, Lithuania. The world\u2019s biggest security alliance is struggling to reach an agreement on admitting Sweden as its 32nd member. Military spending by member nations still […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-342234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n