Belgium, Slovenia and Spain are among seven NATO countries reluctant to grant Ukraine an invitation to join NATO, POLITICO reported, citing 4 anonymous U.S. and NATO officials and diplomats.

While Germany and the U.S. are already known to have reservations about the move, the outlet reported that Belgium, Slovenia, and Spain are “hiding behind” those 2 countries, and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ongoing request.

In mid-October, he unveiled his 5-point victory plan, which includes Kyiv’s invitation to join NATO placed at the top of the list. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said that the alliance does not currently have such plans.

“Countries like Belgium, Slovenia or Spain are hiding behind the U.S. and Germany. They are reluctant”, - one of the NATO officials told Politico. The nations “support it in the abstract, but once it gets closer to materializing” they will start to oppose the idea more publicly, they added.

Two other countries - Hungary and Slovakia - are not backing Ukraine’s NATO membership due to their pro-Kremlin leanings, Politico reported.