VILNIUS: NATO will lay out a path of reforms for Ukraine so that it can eventually join the alliance, but without giving a “timetable,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.

A “reform path for Ukraine” will be drawn up but “I can’t put a timetable on it,” Sullivan told reporters at the NATO summit in Vilnius, also announcing that President Joe Biden will meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.

Sullivan ruled out any immediate entry for Western-backed Ukraine, given its ongoing war against Russian invasion, saying this would “bring NATO into a war with Russia.”

Citing “a lot of good will” for Ukraine’s ambition at the summit in Vilnius, Sullivan said “the question is what’s the pathway?”

“I think we can come to a good understanding,” he said.

Separate to the issue of membership, NATO countries are discussing concrete interim security measures to offer Ukraine, beyond the current aid pouring in to help Kyiv’s military push back the Russians.

Sullivan said this would be discussed during a meeting Wednesday between Biden and Zelensky.