By KYIV. Nov 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg states that the decision that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance remains in force, now the main focus is on supporting the country in its liberation struggle against the Russian invasion.
He said this as part of a conference organized by the Aspen Marshall Fund – GMF Bucharest Forum in Bucharest on Tuesday, which took place on the eve of the meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers. Stoltenberg said the decision regarding membership for Ukraine has been made. At the same time, the main focus now is on supporting Ukraine to ensure that President Putin does not win, but Ukraine does, as a sovereign state in Europe. This is the main focus of our alliance and the main focus of the partnership, according to the official.
At the same time, the Secretary General said the policy of open doors is pursued by the alliance not in words, but in deeds. NATO’s doors are open. This demonstrates this with the recent admission of Montenegro (2017), despite the protests of Russia. This demonstrates that Russia has no veto power. With regard to membership, 30 allies and a postgraduate country decide, and no one else, Stoltenberg said.
Speaking about relations with Ukraine, he said this is a very close partnership, where NATO allies have proved their support for Ukraine in an unprecedented way that NATO has not seen for other countries. NATO allies and partners from Australia to New Zealand are working with the EU and others to provide support to Ukraine. The most important is military support. It is coordinated by the U.S.-led Ramstein Group. This is unprecedented, the NATO Secretary General said.
At the same time, Stoltenerg recalled that such support did not begin in February this year (on February 24, Russia attacked Ukraine), but much earlier. In this regard, he mentioned the training center in Yavoriv, where the allies trained Ukrainian troops. The reality is that the partnership and support that allies have provided for many years has proven that this has been critical. The Ukrainian victories belong to the brave Ukrainian armed forces, but it was important that they received support from NATO partners. And NATO will continue to do so, he assured.
Answering a question about the possible exclusion of Russia from international organizations, the Secretary General expressed his conviction that this is a sovereign and independent decision of such organizations, starting from the UN and the Council of Europe. These organizations will make their own independent decisions. He said NATO for many years has been looking for a constructive relationship with Russia, a constructive dialogue. But Russia has left this dialogue. With such behavior – aggressive actions against Ukraine, now NATO cannot continue the meaningful dialogue that it tried to establish within the NATO-Russia Council, as this does not work under these conditions, Stoltenberg said.
