Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO, stated that he anticipates members will decide at the Vilnius summit in July on a multi-year initiative to assist Ukraine in advancing toward NATO military requirements.
“I expect that we will agree on a multi-year program, where we will work on how to help Ukraine transition from Soviet-era standards, doctrines and equipment to NATO standards… and become fully interoperable with NATO,” Stoltenberg told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit via video link.
“Doing that will also help Ukraine move towards NATO membership,” he said. Ukraine is striving for eventual NATO membership as it acquires advanced Western weaponry from supporters in the alliance to fight off a Russian invasion.
Additionally, Stoltenberg stated that he will step down as NATO secretary general in October.
“I [have] made it clear that I have no other plans than to leave this fall. I will be in almost twice as long as originally planned. And that’s all I have to say about that. I am totally focused on that task until my tenure ends in October,” he stated.
