FM Summit Presser @ 1430CET; FT-Ukraine Sec Guarantees But No Accession

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is set to hold a press conference in Brussels at 1430CET (0830ET, 1330BST) ahead of the two-day foreign ministers' meeting taking place 15-16 June. Link to livestream of presser here. The presser comes as the FT reportsthat Ukraine is set to be offered long-term security assurances by the NATO 'Quad' (France, Germany, UK, US) in lieu of a formal offer of eventual NATO accession.

• FT says the four NATO members are "...working on an overarching political declaration with Ukraine, [...] under the umbrella declaration, Ukraine would conclude bilateral agreements formalising the current level of military and financial aid — and establish it on a more long-term footing with space to expand it if deemed necessary.
  But neither the framework document nor the bilateral agreements would have the status of legal treaties and they would be signed outside the Nato alliance."
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made numerous pleas to provide a concrete roadmap for Ukraine joining NATO in order to fall under its Article 5 mutual defence pact. However, a number of NATO members - notably France - are seen as reluctant to allow a nation still at war to join the alliance.
• With Zelenskyy set to attend the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania 11-12 July, the issue of Ukraine's potential membership could result in some awkward conversations for senior NATO member leaders.