Stoltenberg: NATO will come up with a unified position on Ukraine’s membership at the summit

NATO member countries will come up with a unified position on Ukraine’s membership in the alliance at the organization’s upcoming summit in Vilnius. This was announced by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with Sky News.

“Many allies have different positions and views, but this is nothing new. The strength of NATO, which has been proven over and over again, is that we can always rally around a common goal and a common message,” said the Secretary General (quote according to TASS). He noted that the members of the bloc will find a wording regarding the prospects for Ukraine’s entry into the organization.

On June 16, Stoltenberg ruled out the entry of Ukraine in a state of conflict into NATO. He stated that both the member countries and Kyiv itself understand this. However, according to him, “the doors of the alliance are open,” and the alliance plans to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine at the summit.

A similar statement was made on July 7 by US President Joe Biden. According to the American leader, Ukraine’s accession to NATO is premature.

The NATO summit will be held from 11 to 12 July in Vilnius (Lithuania). After joining Russia in the fall of 2022, the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine would apply for NATO membership in an expedited manner. In the fall of 2022, Stoltenberg noted that Kyiv should focus on maintaining its independence, and not on NATO membership.

The Kremlin noted that the Secretary General’s statements about his readiness to accept Ukraine into the bloc only confirm that the decision to conduct a special operation in Ukraine was correct.