The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said all member countries have agreed that Ukraine will eventually join the transatlantic military alliance once the war is over, ahead of a meeting of western defence ministers discussing further military aid for Kyiv.
Further announcements on weapons and support are expected after the summit at the Ramstein airbase in Germany, but Stoltenberg also sounded notably upbeat about Ukraine’s longer-term prospects for joining Nato.
“All Nato allies have agreed that Ukraine will become a member,” he said. “President Zelenskiy has a very clear expectation, we discussed this.
“Both the issue of membership but also security guarantees, and of course Ukraine needs security. Because no one can tell when and how this war ends. But what we do know is that when the war ends, we need to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself.”
Nato membership, carrying with it a commitment from all member countries to protect each other if attacked, has long been a demand from Kyiv. Although Nato agreed in principle in 2008 that Ukraine could be allowed to join, the country has never been given a formal pathway to membership.
The outbreak of fighting with Russia, which dates back to 2014, has also acted as a further deterrent to Nato members because immediate membership for Ukraine would entail an immediate conflict with a nuclear-armed Moscow, which the US and other member states have made clear they will not contemplate.
Zelenskiy is scheduled to attend Nato’s next annual summit in Vilinus, Lithuania, in July, but Ukrainian officials have said they want the alliance to agree a roadmap to membership as a condition for his attendance. Kyiv applied for an accelerated membership last September, seven months after the full invasion started in February.
Stoltenberg had travelled to Kyiv on Thursday, the first time the Nato chief had himself visited the country since the start of the all-out war, where he said the alliance must ensure Ukraine “prevails” in the fighting. His fresh remarks indicate a willingness to edge forward Ukraine’s case for joining.
But one key member cautioned against any rapid development. The German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said in a Thursday night interview on German television: “The door is open a crack, but this is not the time to decide now.”
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The meeting at Ramstein is expected to run into the afternoon. Its convener, the US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, and the US chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Mark Milley, are scheduled to then hold a press conference.
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2023-04-21 11:37:00Z
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