Most Germans favour Ukraine NATO membership after war ends: survey

The majority of Germans are in favour of Ukraine joining NATO, but most prefer that to happen after Russia's war against Ukraine is over, a poll conducted by YouGov on behalf of dpa showed.

The survey showed that 42% are in favour of Ukraine joining NATO after the war ends, while 13% favour immediate accession and 29% are fundamentally opposed to Ukraine joining the alliance, reported dpa.

Under the NATO treaty, if members pledge military assistance to a member nation under attack.

The survey also showed that a majority of Germans want peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to start now, with 58% in favour of talks to end the war starting immediately, 26% against and 16% who did not respond.

On Tuesday, the 31 NATO heads of state and government will meet in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, for their annual meeting. Ukraine's potential membership is one of the topics.

NATO first held out the prospect of NATO membership to Ukraine in 2008, without making any concrete commitments.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pushing to NATO membership and will be attending the Vilnius summit.

NATO states like Lithuania and Poland are in favour of promising Ukraine admission directly after a possible end to the war. Other countries like Germany, however, stay away from making such promises. Among other things, they point out that NATO accession should continue to be linked to the fulfilment of conditions.

Ukraine has often been criticized for corruption.

The YouGov surveyed 2,116 respondents all over Germany between June 30 and July 4.