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Its president, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Tuesday that Russia does not have veto power over Ukraine’s eventual membership in the western defense alliance NATO.
“All allies agree that the door to NATO remains open, that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance, and that Russia does not have the right of veto,” he said.
The NATO chief was in Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, for talks with the heads of the alliance’s eastern wing, the so-called Bucharest Group of Nine.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year galvanized NATO, which was founded some 75 years ago to counter the Soviet Union.
The Bratislava talks came ahead of next month’s NATO summit in Vilnius, where Stoltenberg said the alliance would make “very important” decisions.
“We will strengthen our support for Ukraine with a multi-year aid package to help it transition from the Soviet era to NATO standards, and bring Ukraine closer to NATO,” he said.
“We must also agree to a stronger commitment to increase defense investments to a minimum of 2% of GDP,” he added.
Stoltenberg also said he was “working hard to ensure that we will soon welcome Sweden as a full member of this coalition”.
Sweden and Finland abandoned decades of military non-alignment and applied to join the coalition after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Finland officially joined NATO in April.
“All allies agree that the door to NATO remains open, that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance, and that Russia does not have the right of veto,” he said.
The NATO chief was in Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, for talks with the heads of the alliance’s eastern wing, the so-called Bucharest Group of Nine.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year galvanized NATO, which was founded some 75 years ago to counter the Soviet Union.
The Bratislava talks came ahead of next month’s NATO summit in Vilnius, where Stoltenberg said the alliance would make “very important” decisions.
“We will strengthen our support for Ukraine with a multi-year aid package to help it transition from the Soviet era to NATO standards, and bring Ukraine closer to NATO,” he said.
“We must also agree to a stronger commitment to increase defense investments to a minimum of 2% of GDP,” he added.
Stoltenberg also said he was “working hard to ensure that we will soon welcome Sweden as a full member of this coalition”.
Sweden and Finland abandoned decades of military non-alignment and applied to join the coalition after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Finland officially joined NATO in April.
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