Washington and Berlin are slow-walking Ukraine’s bid for a NATO invitation

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is running into a problem with his victory plan based on Ukraine getting an invitation to join NATO — some of the alliance’s key members aren’t keen on that happening.

Germany and the U.S. are among the major powers slow-walking Zelenskyy’s call for an immediate invitation to join NATO, according to four U.S. and NATO officials and diplomats who were granted anonymity to share the latest internal discussions.

In his victory plan, Zelenskyy asked for an immediate invitation, but recognized that actually joining the alliance would only be possible after the war with Russia ends.