But most of Ukraine's Western backers are at least on board with offering Kiev security guarantees, but which fall short of full membership in the military alliance. A US official who is set to attend the July 11-12 NATO summit in Lithuania is going a step further, saying a membership offer will be on the table, but for a future date with no attached timeline. 

US Permanent Representative to NATO Julianne Smith has been cited in Yahoo as saying she is confident NATO "would agree on a text that went beyond a declaration in Bucharest from 2008, which said Ukraine would join the alliance but did not say when or how."