A cross-party group of lawmakers from Northern Europe lays out a succinct, real-world case for admitting Ukraine as a full participant in the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) without waiting for NATO’s politics to catch up. Their premise is straightforward: Russia is intensifying strikes while running its war industry around the clock, yet Ukraine’s NATO track, however “irreversible” in principle, remains stalled by objections from a few allies. The JEF, by contrast, is a nimble coalition of sovereign states—led by the United Kingdom and including partners across Scandinavia and the Baltic-North Sea region—that can move by consensus at speed. Bringing Ukraine into this framework would not be a consolation prize but a force-multiplier. After more than three years of full-scale war, Ukraine has become Europe’s most battle-tested military, with cutting-edge practice in drones, electronic warfare, and agile, decentralized command. Inside the JEF, those capabilities can be translated into shared doctrine, regularized exercises, and rapid-deployment interoperability. Membership would also unlock smarter coordination of JEF members’ investments in Ukraine’s defense industry—framed not as charity but as strategic industrial policy that strengthens Europe’s front-line deterrence. The authors warn that symbolic gestures around major gatherings, including the NATO summit in The Hague and even President Volodymyr Zelensky’s high-profile presence, risk sending the wrong signal if they aren’t matched by concrete steps. JEF accession is presented as exactly that: immediate, practical, and clearly complementary to NATO rather than a substitute for it. Admitting Ukraine would deepen operational cooperation among countries already supporting Kyiv, bolster deterrence posture in Northern Europe, and send a crisp message to Kyiv, Moscow, and European publics alike that support is neither hesitant nor conditional. The call to action is deliberately simple: if NATO hesitates, let the JEF lead now—turning resolve into arrangements, and admiration for Ukraine’s battlefield innovation into a standing framework that strengthens Europe’s collective defense.