NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance in the “long-term”, but stressed that the immediate issue is it remaining an independent nation in the face of Russia’s invasion.
“NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will become a member of our alliance, but at the same time that is a long-term perspective,” Stoltenberg told reporters during a visit to Finland’s capital Helsinki.
Advertisement
Stoltenberg added that “the issue now is that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation, and therefore we need to support Ukraine.”
After Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the US-led military alliance to grant his country a fast-track membership.
Ukraine applied for EU membership in February 2022, shortly after it was invaded, and was granted candidate status in June.
When the war ends “we need to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself,” Stoltenberg told a press conference with Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin.
“President Putin cannot continue to attack neighbors. He wants to control Ukraine and he is not planning for peace, he is planning for more war.”
Spooked by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden dropped their decades-long policies of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO in May of 2022.
“I see that the future of Ukraine is to be part of the European Union and also a member of NATO,” Marin added.
Turkey and Hungary are the only remaining members yet to ratify the Finnish and Swedish bids to join the alliance.
Stoltenberg said that “both Finland and Sweden have delivered on what they promised in the trilateral agreement they made with Turkey last June in Madrid.”
“The time is now to ratify and to fully welcome Finland and Sweden as members,” he said.
© 2023 Al Arabiya
Better let Ukraine join now. If the situation on the front collapses, there might not be a Ukraine left to join…
The Ukrainian meat grinder continues to perform very well. The Moskali invaders are sacrificing themselves at the altar of Putler and digging their own trenches to die in instead of advancing. Just wait until the Leo 1 and 2s arrive along with dozens of Bradleys. The warm yellow liquids will be apparent all across the front
Your words in the Lord’s ears. Ha,ha,ha,ha!
As long as that POS is in Hungary forget NATO
I see the bureaucrat wannabe journalist crawled out from under his desk again to bait Ukraine. We heard enough from this talking head.
When Ukraine has won the war, it should allow NATO to join it in the long run, except for its brave and worthy members, of course. We know who they are. They can join Ukraine immediately.