The desire to receive an official invitation to NATO tops President Volodymyr Zelensky’s victory plan.

While acknowledging that membership itself is a matter for after the war, Zelensky urged allies to send an invitation before U.S. President Joe Biden leaves office in January.

The president also said that Ukraine needs to receive an invitation without conditions to cede territory, denying earlier reports that Kyiv might be invited to the alliance without the occupied parts of the country, such as Donetsk and Crimea.

But despite the ambitious request, there seems to be little appetite for a fast-tracked invitation while the war is ongoing.

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