NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that Ukraine will become a NATO member as soon as “the conditions are met” for it.
“We reaffirm that Ukraine will become a member of NATO. We have agreed to drop the action plan requirement for membership. This will change the path from two stages to one,” the NATO leader told a summit news conference. in Lithuania. , assuring that “Ukraine is much closer to NATO.”
Jens Stoltenberg believes that the country invaded by Russia is getting closer to achieving the necessary conditions for integration into the Atlantic Alliance.
The allies have “a strong, united and positive message to Ukraine” and “are providing considerable military support, because the most urgent thing is for Ukraine to defend itself.”
The NATO leader revealed that this Tuesday he will meet with Zelensky and added that the support is concrete from the allies.
“Analyzing other past processes, there was never a timetable to enter NATO. It always depended on the conditions,” said the general secretary.
And he shoots: “It is not for Moscow to decide the path of sovereign countries.”
Regarding the accession of Sweden and questioned about when the ratification will take place in Turkey and Hungary, the NATO Secretary General says that it is necessary to respect the processes of domestic parliaments.
Stoltenberg also announced that several countries have already reached the 2% defense budget target.
“The latest estimates show that defense spending in the European Union and Canada will increase by 8.3%. (…) There are 11 allies that have already reached the limit of 2% of their defense budget and some have even exceeded it. I hope others will follow suit.”
Updated news at 4:37 pm
Source: TSF
