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NATO doesn't require member nations to send ground forces or control airspace or even declare war with the invading nation.

What good is Article 5, then, if all member nations can decline to declare war?
"De Facto" literally means not in accordance to law, but effectively the same.  Nearly every single NATO member is providing military assistance to Ukraine.  The effective difference between the aid they are retrieving and full NATO membership could be debatable since NATO doesn't require member nations to send ground forces or control airspace or even declare war with the invading nation.