The Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Mircea Geoană, said that NATO continues negotiations on security guarantees for Ukraine before Kyiv becomes a member of the Alliance. Mr Geoană said this in an interview with Digi24.
“We will be working on an assistance package (for Ukraine – Ed.), and yes, we are in multilateral negotiations to formulate security guarantees that will ensure consistency and predictability until Ukraine becomes a NATO member”.
Mircea Geoană, NATO Deputy Secretary General
According to the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ukraine has demonstrated how heroically it fights and how well it uses Western technology, having radically departed from post-Soviet warfare doctrines. He also pointed out that today Ukraine is “much more closely linked to our Alliance and the Western world”.
The Alliance official added that in Vilnius, NATO leaders “will take the political relationship to the next level.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine ask for a clear timetable for NATO integration. And when the conditions are met, Ukraine has every chance of eventually becoming a NATO member,” Gioane concluded.
“NATO aims to protect allied territory from all directions. Russia is a clear danger, given what is happening after 17 months of its war in Ukraine. Detailed defence plans, regional, force structure and military capabilities from the air, from the air, from space, we have right now, and leaders will approve a defence from all directions.”
Mircea Geoană, NATO Deputy Secretary General
Earlier, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau supported Ukraine’s accelerated accession to NATO.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on US President Joe Biden to invite Ukraine to NATO now – even if the country joins the Alliance after the war.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda called on NATO allies to offer Ukraine a simplified accession to the Alliance at the summit in Vilnius to increase the effectiveness of Ukrainians on the battlefield.
The Foreign Policy Committee of the Bulgarian Parliament approved a draft declaration by a group of coalition parties expressing support for Ukraine’s accession to NATO after the war.
Read also: NATO summit in Vilnius: will Ukraine obtain membership promise?
