Whereas the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established to provide for [the] collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security of its members through promoting cooperation and committing them to democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law, and the peaceful resolution of disputes; Whereas, on August 24, 1991, Ukraine became a sovereign, independent nation and started a long process of reforms with the goal of achieving democracy, transparency, and rule of law; Whereas, on December 5, 1994, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum and surrendered its nuclear weapons, the third largest stockpile in the world at the time, in exchange for nonbinding security guarantees from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation; Whereas, on April 3, 2008, heads of state and government of the member countries of NATO signed the Bucharest Summit Declaration, which stated, NATO welcomes Ukraine’s and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO. We agreed today that these countries will become members of NATO. Both nations have made valuable contributions to Alliance operations ; Whereas, on February 20, 2014, the Russian Federation and its proxies launched an unprovoked invasion of Crimea and annexed the peninsula, and has illegally occupied the peninsula since; Whereas, on April 6, 2014, the Russian Federation and its proxies launched an operation in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces of Ukraine and have illegally occupied portions of the Donbas region since; Whereas, on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched a full-scale, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation that borders Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, all of whom are members of NATO; Whereas, on September 30, 2022, Ukraine formally applied to join NATO, and President Volodymyr Zelensky stated, We are taking our decisive step by signing Ukraine’s application for accelerated accession to NATO.