NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced today, Wednesday, the creation of the NATO-Ukraine Council at its first meeting as part of the Vilnius Summit.
Before the start of the first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, Stoltenberg welcomed the participation of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky today, Wednesday, at the NATO summit, which is taking place in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.
Stoltberg assured the Ukrainian president that NATO “will continue to support Ukraine militarily for as long as necessary.”
Stoltenberg explained that the creation of the NATO-Ukraine Council is part of a support package based on three stages, as this will bring Ukraine closer to the alliance.”
Stoltenberg pointed out that the new support package also includes a multi-year program to help Kiev forces modernize their Soviet-era weapons with NATO equipment and standards to achieve full interoperability between them and the alliance’s forces.
During the meeting, the allies also confirmed that Ukraine would become a member of NATO, while agreeing to eliminate the requirements for a membership plan.
“Ukraine’s course of membership will change from a two-stage process to a one-stage process,” the NATO Secretary General said, adding: “We will issue an invitation to Ukraine to join NATO when the allies agree that all conditions have been met.” was welcomed,” emphasizing that this step is a “strong and unified signal” of the allies on the path of Kyiv’s entry into NATO.
Stoltenberg stressed the need for “credible arrangements” to secure Ukraine at the end of the war, applauding the plan of many allies to commit to providing Ukraine with long-term security guarantees, where he said: “This move will help deter any future aggression from Russia after the end of this war.” . This complements NATO’s support for Kyiv.
“The decisions taken in Vilnius mark the beginning of a new chapter in NATO-Ukraine relations,” Stoltenberg concluded, adding: “Today we meet as equals and I look forward to the day we meet as allies.”
Source: RT