US officials almost altered plans for Ukraine's NATO membership timeline after Zelenskyy's fiery tweet: report

• US officials almost edited NATO's invitiation for Ukraine after Zelenskyy's fiery tweet.
• The Washington Post reported that the tweet left the White House and US NATO delegation "furious."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's fiery tweet slamming NATO for their "unprecedented and absurd" timeline for Ukraine's membership left allies stunned — and almost pushed US officials to edit their invitation for Kyiv to eventually join the alliance, The Washington Post reported.

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy posted a lengthy, frustrated tweet before his arrival to the NATO summit in Lithuania. He expressed frustrations at NATO's proposed timeline for Ukraine's membership — which, given the final copy of the summit's communiqué, isn't really a timeline at all.

"It's unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine's membership. While at the same time vague wording about 'conditions' is added even for inviting Ukraine," Zelenskyy tweeted.

"It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the Alliance," he added. "This means that a window of opportunity is being left to bargain Ukraine's membership in NATO in negotiations with Russia. And for Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror."

Zelenskyy's tweet was likely in response to NATO foregoing a roadmap or timetable for Kyiv to gain membership. Instead, Ukraine is at the mercy of "when allies agree and conditions are met," meaning when its war with Russia ends.

The tweet's a scathing callout, and according to the Post, left the US delegation "furious." Prior to Kyiv arriving, there were informal discussions on how best to respond, leading to US officials suggesting they revisit or remove any mention of Ukraine's invitation to membership at all.

Ultimately, the language remained in the communiqué, and Zelenskyy's tone noticeably softened during the remainder of the summit as NATO leaders announced a major package of military support for Kyiv.

Zelenskyy has repeatedly pushed for Ukraine to join NATO as soon as possible and has worked with allies to procure Western weapons and assets for Ukraine.

The summit's kick-the-can approach extends Ukraine's long limbo towards NATO inclusion. In 2008, NATO pledged that Ukraine "will become" a member of the world's foremost alliance, in part due to the advocacy of US President George W. Bush. But the communique left unaddressed any timetable for formal consideration, even as Russian President Vladimir Putin and his advisors saw Ukraine slipping from their control. Six years later, Russia would seize the Crimea peninsula by force and back separatist fighters in Ukraine's east.