NATO allies agree that Ukraine will become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, and at a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council, they will agree on recommendations for reforms for Ukrainians, said Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the Western military organization. on Monday at a press conference, The Guardian reports, citing News.ro.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Jens Stoltenberg at the NATO headquartersPhoto: ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia

However, all allies agree that full membership remains impossible in the midst of war, even if rapprochement between Ukraine and NATO continues, he added.

“It is still too early to say what exactly will be the decision that we will make at the summit in Washington. All Allies agree that full membership is not possible during wartime, but of course we will continue to analyze to decide how we can bring Ukraine and NATO even closer,” the NATO Secretary General said.

Meanwhile, allies continue to support Kyiv in defense against Russian aggression. This month, Germany and the Netherlands pledged 10 billion euros to Ukraine, and Romania opened an F-16 training center for Ukrainian pilots. Allies, including the US and Finland, are sending more air defense systems and ammunition to protect Ukrainian cities from Russian attacks, NATO’s secretary general said.

“The fact that the allies supply F-16s, tanks, artillery, conduct training, all this very practically helps Ukraine to get closer to NATO”

  • “NATO allies are following and implementing the decisions we made regarding Ukraine and its accession to NATO at our summit in Vilnius in July this year. I made three important decisions. First, we shortened Ukraine’s accession path from a two-step process to a single step by removing the requirement for a Ukraine Accession Action Plan, so that step has already been taken.
  • Secondly, we created the Ukraine-NATO Council, which is an important body where Ukraine and all NATO allies gather at the same table, with the same rights and responsibilities, and it is a body where we can jointly make decisions so that Ukraine can significantly is approaching NATO through the establishment of a decision-making body. This week, this Council will meet for the first time at the level of foreign ministers.
  • Third, we agreed on a comprehensive and substantial program to ensure full interoperability between Ukrainian and NATO forces. This, of course, will help them to get closer to us, to be more capable of acting together with NATO forces. In addition to that, of course, the fact that NATO allies are supplying F-16s, battle tanks, artillery, training, all of this is helping Ukraine, in a very practical way, to get closer to NATO, because they are increasingly able to act and work together with NATO soldiers and based on NATO training doctrines and procedures,” said Jens Stoltenberg.

“The more military support we provide to Ukraine, the stronger its position will be on the battlefield and at the possible negotiating table”

On the other hand, Stoltenberg stressed that it is Ukraine that decides to negotiate with Russia on any peace it wants to negotiate, when and if the time for peace talks comes. “It depends on Ukraine what are the acceptable ways to end this war. Our responsibility is to support Ukraine and allow the Ukrainians to liberate as much territory as possible and put them in the best possible position when or if they can start negotiations,” the NATO leader emphasized.

Wars are by their very nature unpredictable, Stoltenberg said. On the other hand, he said that NATO sees no signs that President Vladimir Putin is going to make peace, but, on the contrary, that he is planning a new war. “So we know that the more military support we provide to Ukraine, the stronger their position will be on the battlefield and the stronger their position will be at the possible negotiating table,” Stoltenberg explained.

He also said Sweden’s accession to NATO, which is still pending ratification by Turkey and Hungary, would make all allies “safer” and asked the two countries to complete the procedures.

  • Read also: Jens Stoltenberg: Ukraine has inflicted very heavy losses on the Russians in recent weeks

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