Europe | A bridge too far?

When will Ukraine join NATO?

Its road to membership could be blocked if Donald Trump becomes president

President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
Photograph: Getty Images
|WASHINGTON, DC

Nato’s leaders gathered in Washington this week to overcome a big gap in their Ukraine strategy—between the principle that Ukraine is free to join the alliance with no veto by Russia and the reality that few are ready to let it in while it is at war with Russia. That proved impossible, so nato made do with lots of smaller commitments of weapons, money and training, and many warm words for Ukraine.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “A bridge too far?”

From the July 13th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Miners work underground near the city of Pokrovsk, Ukraine.

Why Russia is trying to seize a vital Ukrainian coal mine

Without it, the country’s remaining steel industry will be crippled

The search for Ukraine’s missing soldiers and sailors

The families of missing loved ones are trying to find them, alive or dead


A big truck emblazoned with the US flag on the side and the words MAGA above the cab (which resembles Donald Trump's face) flies over the brow of a hill. A startled deer is caught in the headlights

Europe could become Trump’s geopolitical roadkill

A second dose of MAGA will put the EU in a pickle


Russia continues to advance in eastern Ukraine

But it is encountering growing problems

Turkey’s long hard struggle with inflation

High interest rates are starting to do the trick

Delays on Italy’s spruced-up trains have got worse

Matteo Salvini is making feeble excuses