When asked about the NATO Summit, held in Lithuania's Vilnius from July 11-12, Duda said he had met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of the summit and talked to him about the prospect of Ukraine's accession to NATO.
"From the very beginning, of course, we realized that this was a very complex issue. In particular, it is complicated simply because there is a war going on, and we all were well aware that the acceptance of Ukraine as a full member of NATO is out of the question at the moment," the Polish Press Agency quoted the president as saying at Krynica Forum 2023 in Poland.
Duda added that Ukraine's admission to NATO at the time would have meant NATO's entry into a war with Russia due to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on the principle of collective defense.
"Therefore, it was obvious that NATO countries would not agree to this," the president said, adding that the Vilnius summit was "about opening the door to NATO for Ukraine."
As a result of the NATO Summit in Vilnius, NATO leaders agreed on a package of three elements to bring Ukraine closer to the alliance. The first element is the creation of an assistance program for Ukraine that will facilitate its transition to NATO standards, training and doctrine. The second element is the establishment of a NATO-Ukraine Council, and the third is the cancellation of the membership action plan for Ukraine, which will allow Kiev's accession process to be shortened from two steps to one. However, the bloc has not extended an official invitation to Kiev.