Consultations on the wording of the Vilnius Summit on Ukraine's future accession to the Alliance are ongoing at NATO, but Secretary General Stoltenberg expects the leaders to find a "good solution."
Stoltenberg stated this at a press conference on Wednesday on the eve of the meeting of the defense ministers of the Alliance.
"Consultations continue. I am sure that we will find a good solution at this summit," Stoltenberg said, making it clear that the allies have not yet agreed on a position regarding the mechanism of Ukraine's move to NATO.
He called it important that in this context the allies reached an agreement on a number of key positions.
"Allies reached an agreement on Ukrainian membership. We agreed that NATO's doors are open... We also agreed that Ukraine will become a member of the Alliance," said the Secretary General.
He added that the allies agreed that it depends only on Ukraine and the member states whether it will become a member of NATO.
"Now our priority is for Ukraine to preserve itself as an independent state," Stoltenberg added, noting that for this NATO will agree to a multi-year program that will help Ukraine move from Soviet standards to NATO standards and become fully compatible with the Alliance.
As you know, at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, the member states of the Alliance will promise to increase military aid to Ukraine and undertake to help in the long term.
