Senators planning to attend NATO summit in show of support after Ukraine invasion

A group of six senators is planning to travel to Lithuania next month for the annual NATO summit, which will likely be heavily focused on the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. 

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) are leading the delegation, which will also include Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Angus King (I-Maine) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), to the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. 

“We’re proud to lead this bipartisan group of Senators to send a resounding message to the international community that the United States – across party lines – stands firmly with the Alliance as we confront our shared global security challenges,” Shaheen and Tillis said in a statement. 

They said NATO responded to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and “barbaric campaign of violence” last year with unity. 

The two senators are the co-chairs of the Senate NATO Observer Group, which is made up of seven Democrats and seven Republicans and has the purpose of informing senators of alliance members’ defense spending commitments, upgrades to military capabilities, counterterrorism capabilities, enlargements of the alliance, and members’ abilities to address non-conventional warfare. 

“To stand by our partners and defend democracy worldwide – from Putin or any adversary who threatens our rules-based order – the Alliance must continue to work in lock-step,” Shaheen and Tillis said. “We look forward to conveying that message and reaffirming the United States’ commitment to that promise at the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius.” 

Ukraine filed an expedited application to join NATO last fall amid the Russian invasion, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier this month that discussions are not being held about issuing a formal invitation for Ukraine to join NATO at the summit. 

He said NATO leaders are discussing how to move Ukraine “closer” to the alliance, and the most important thing is to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself from Russia as a “sovereign, independent, democratic nation.” 

Shaheen and Tillis previously led a delegation to the NATO summit last year.