KYIV, Ukraine - Top Ukrainian officials are hoping that next week's NATO leaders' summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, will be an epic moment - when Ukraine finally receives a "clear signal" that it will eventually join the alliance, anchoring the country in the West's security infrastructure and sending an unequivocal message to Moscow.
Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, said the summit "must end" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg "standing next to each other" and proclaiming, in Sak's words: "Today, we have reached a historical decision. Today, we have invited Ukraine to join NATO."