Ukraine is now closer to NATO than ever before, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a NATO summit in Vilnius.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“I look forward to the day we meet as allies,” Stoltenberg told Zelenskyy, without giving further details on when and how Ukraine will become a NATO member.
Stoltenberg also said that the biggest risk linked to the war in Ukraine would be a military victory of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Ukraine has the right to choose its own path,” Stoltenberg said, adding: “It is not for Moscow to decide.”
He also said that despite ongoing talks on Ukraine’s future membership status in the alliance, the most urgent task for Western allies at the moment remained to support the country’s war effort against Russia.
“Of course guarantees, documents, council meetings are important but the most urgent task now is to ensure enough weapons for Zelenskyy and his armed forces,” Stoltenberg said.
Read more:
Long-term military aid for Ukraine from G7 shows Russia ‘time is not on its side’: US
Zelenskyy says G7 pledges could not be substitute for eventual NATO membership
Russian general not seen since Wagner mutiny is ‘currently resting’: Official
