Volodymyr Zelensky discussed four issues with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg — the Ramstein meeting scheduled for April 21 and further support of Ukraine with weapons, overcoming partnersʼ restraint in the transfer of long-range weapons and modern aircraft, the upcoming Vilnius NATO summit and security guarantees for Ukraine on the way to the Alliance.
Stoltenberg informed that at the July summit in Vilnius, NATO members will discuss Ukraineʼs membership and security guarantees.
"Ukraine should rightfully find a place in the Euro-Atlantic family. And Ukraineʼs rightful place in NATO. And we will help, with our support we will make it possible," Stoltenberg noted.
This is the first visit of the Secretary General to Kyiv since the beginning of the full-scale war, which the Russian Federation started in February last year.
- In 2014, Ukraine intensified cooperation with NATO against the background of the Russian occupation of Crimea and the armed conflict in Donbas. The course for joining the Alliance is fixed in the Constitution of Ukraine.
- In 2018, NATO granted Ukraine the status of a candidate country for membership in the Alliance, and in 2020, Ukraine acquired the status of a partner with enhanced opportunities.
- On June 14, 2021, a NATO summit was held in Brussels, in the final communique of which it was noted that the Alliance supports Ukraineʼs accession to NATO.
- On September 30, 2022, after Putin announced the annexation of the occupied territory of Ukraine, Zelensky informed that Ukraine would submit an application to NATO under an accelerated procedure. Stoltenberg stated that the precondition for the start of negotiations on Ukraineʼs membership in NATO should be its victory, and the members of the Alliance help her in this.