Stoltenberg affirms that “the right place for Ukraine is in NATO”

First modification: 04/22/2023 – 00:34

One day after visiting the Ukrainian capital, kyiv, Jens Stoltenberg reported that he had spoken with the Ukrainian president about preparations for the NATO summit to be held in Lithuania.

“I invited him to the meeting and I am glad that he has accepted and is going to attend the NATO summit in Vilnius,” Stoltenberg said.

The highest representative of the military alliance also reported that with the Ukrainian president he discussed at least two important aspects for Ukraine and that are related to NATO.

“One is that I hope that the NATO allies will reiterate at the summit their commitment to support Ukraine for as long as it takes with substantial military support to ensure that it prevails as a sovereign and independent nation in Europe,” he said.

On the other hand, Stoltenberg reported that he expects an agreement from the allies for a multi-year program that will allow him to help Ukraine in the transition from Soviet-era equipment, standards and doctrines to NATO standards and doctrines.

Hungary reacts to Stoltenberg’s endorsement of Ukraine in NATO

During his visit to Kiev, the head of the Atlantic alliance reiterated what could be Ukraine’s future accession to NATO, telling President Zelensky that “Ukraine’s future lies in the Euro-Atlantic family.”

However, he made it clear that the main objective of the group, and other Western countries, is to guarantee that Ukraine prevails and to avoid “that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, does not win the war” since “without a sovereign and independent Ukraine it does not make sense discuss an accession”.

“We know that with our support, Ukraine is moving towards Euro-Atlantic integration and that our help, and our support, enables it to make it possible,” Stoltenberg said.

However, Stoltenberg’s words in kyiv did not go down well with Hungarian President Viktor Orban.

Through the social network Twitter, Orban responded with a word to the link to the article published by the media ‘politico.eu’ in which he made reference to the words of the head of the military alliance and support for Ukraine.

Orban wrote in the article link “What?”, without adding another phrase or word. It is worth remembering that Hungary, despite being a member of NATO and the European Union, has not broken ties with Russia and has also accused the bloc of 27 of wanting to prolong the conflict.

Allies enlist for further backing for Ukrainian forces

On April 21, during the Ukraine defense contact group meeting at the Ramstein military base in Germany, members made no major announcements beyond clarifying that the focus of the meeting was to discuss air defense and ammunition.

On the other hand, during the meeting, the representation of the United States informed that a process of training Ukrainian troops for the use of Abrams war tanks will soon begin.

“The M1 tank, when it’s delivered, will make a difference,” said US Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

According to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the first Abrams tanks will arrive in Germany in the coming weeks and will be used for Ukrainian troops to begin training. Such training could last 10 weeks and will involve hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers, a US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

At the same meeting of the group, Germany announced the agreement for the establishment of a center for the repair of Leopard tanks in Poland.

Reuters affirms that all parties agreed on the way in which the construction of said center will be financed, the cost of which would range between 150 and 200 million euros.

Additionally, Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister, indicated that the promise to deliver some 80 Leopard tanks by mid-2023 was advancing fast.

With Reuters, EFE and AP