BRUSSELS, May 24 (Reuters) – Ukraine will not be able to join NATO as long as the war with Russia rages, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
“Becoming a member in the middle of a war is not on the agenda,” Jens Stoltenberg said at an event in Brussels organized by the German Marshall Fund of The United States. “The question is what will happen when the war is over.”
Last September, the Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelensky, announced that his country wanted an accelerated procedure for joining NATO, after his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin claimed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions partially occupied by Russian troops. .
NATO members have so far not acceded to Ukraine’s request, several Western governments fearing that such a measure would bring the Alliance closer to an active war with Russia.
However, Kyiv and its main supporters in Eastern Europe are pressing for NATO to take concrete measures, during the summit scheduled for July in Lithuania, to bring Ukraine closer to joining the Alliance.
“It is time for the Alliance to stop making excuses and start the process that will lead to Ukraine’s membership,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote last month in a Tribune.
“What we need is a clear written statement from allies detailing a path to membership,” he added.
NATO members agreed in 2008 that Ukraine would eventually join the Alliance, a decision that Jens Stoltenberg reaffirmed in April during a rare visit to Kyiv but without giving a timetable. No concrete steps in this direction have been taken.
Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged on Wednesday that there were differences within NATO over Ukraine’s candidacy. “The only way to make decisions in NATO is by consensus. There are ongoing consultations,” he said, adding he was unable to guess what will be decided on the issue at the summit. from Vilnius this summer. (Report Sabine Siebold and Andrew Gray; French version Jean Terzian)
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