NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that Ukraine deserves to be in US-led NATO, the West’s main military alliance, but his stance drew an immediate protest from Russia.
In his first visit to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion 14 months ago, Stoltenberg said at a news conference, “Let me be clear, Ukraine’s rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic family. Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO.”
Stoltenberg said he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed a NATO support program to help Kyiv “transition from Soviet-era equipment and doctrines to NATO standards and ensure full interoperability with the alliance. NATO stands with you today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said preventing neighboring Ukraine from joining the 31-nation NATO alliance remains one of the goals of Russia’s invasion. He said Ukrainian membership in NATO would pose a “serious, significant threat to our country, to our country’s security.”
Earlier this month, Finland, with a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia, set aside decades of neutrality and joined NATO, with neighboring Sweden also looking to join the alliance in the next few months.
Despite Stoltenberg’s comments on Ukraine joining NATO, it is not likely to occur anytime soon.
Western nations individually have shipped billions of dollars in armaments to Ukraine to help it fend off Russia’s invasion and supplied intelligence information to Kyiv, but sent no troops. If Ukraine were a NATO member, however, other NATO members would be obligated to fight alongside Kyiv’s forces to defend its territory.
During his Ukraine visit, Stoltenberg went to a memorial for fallen soldiers and reviewed damaged Russian military equipment on display in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
Stoltenberg has routinely voiced support for NATO members supplying arms to help Ukrainian forces, and he has seen the size of the alliance grow with Finland joining this month in response to the invasion. A similar application from Finland’s neighbor, Sweden, has been approved by all NATO members except Hungary and Turkey. (VOA)
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