By KYIV. May 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – On the eve of the NATO summit, Ukraine is working on expanding the list of countries supporting its future membership in the Alliance and providing security guarantees, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said.
“There is very little time left before the summit in Vilnius. Therefore, the president and the entire team of the President’s Office are working to ensure that the circle of countries that support us and actively speak out about our future membership in the Alliance, and on this path of providing us with specific security guarantees, is one that would give us the opportunity to really get such a decision,” Yermak said on the air of a nationwide telethon in Friday.
In this context, the head of the President’s Office also called the recent meetings of the Ukrainian leadership with the leaders of the Nordic countries very fruitful.
Answering the question about the format of the future document on security guarantees, Yermak noted that the President’s Office would not allow a document to be signed on behalf of Ukraine that would not give it certain guarantees.
“We are very attentive to what is being accepted between our partners today. There is very hard work on a round-the-clock basis regarding each letter of the documents. This also applies to the Helsinki Declaration and the Declaration with the Netherlands and Belgium in The Hague. When we talk about security guarantees, we clearly understand that these should be guarantees that will work. At the same time, I can say that today we already see the implementation in the provision of these guarantees. We receive daily support regarding Ukraine’s military capabilities, financial, and sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation,” he said.
According to the head of the Office of the President, it is important for Ukraine that security guarantees are enshrined in a specific document, and that this document is agreed and signed by partners.
He also stressed that without Ukraine, NATO will not be so strong.
“Many NATO member countries are publicly talking about this. And they understand that it is Ukraine, when it becomes a member of NATO, that will be able to build a new security line from the Baltic to the Black Sea,” Yermak concluded.
