The Atlantic Council and a group of more than 40 experts, former high-ranking officials, adopted an appeal to U.S. President Joe Biden with a request to speed up the process of Ukraine's accession to NATO, the press service of the Kyiv Security Forum (KSF) reported.

John Herbst, director of the Eurasia Center of the Atlantic Council, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine in 2003-2006 said at the KSF on Monday that at the NATO summit in Washington, which will take place next year, decisions must be made that will accelerate Ukraine’s accession to NATO.

He expressed this opinion during a special event at the Kyiv Security Forum, where this appeal was presented. According to Herbst, the creation of this document is connected with the July NATO summit in Vilnius, since many were disappointed with its results. Herbst said that it was the reason why they had created a group of experts, specialists, former senior officials to decide what can be done to speed up Ukraine's entry into NATO through the Washington summit that will take place next year.

As Herbst noted, this group included very respected specialists who held high positions: former ambassadors, diplomats, heads of military structures in Europe.

He said that their support is not philanthropy, but a smart investment and protection of American interests. If Putin defeated Ukraine, Herbst said, which wouldn’t happen according to him, as long as America supports Ukraine, he would to his mind attack Poland, the Baltic countries, and the cost of this aggression for the USA and NATO would be higher than current aid to Ukraine. Herbst added that a decisive step towards Ukraine’s membership in NATO is needed, which must be taken at the summit in Washington.