- LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
- U.S. President Biden tells host Lithuania: ‘Our pledge to be with you has not wavered’
- RIA quotes Russian diplomat as saying Europe would be first to face ‘catastrophic consequences’ should Ukraine war escalate
- Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy says ‘our warriors’ keeping Russian aggression away from Europe
- Lithuania’s NATO ambassador says summit to commit 500 million euros a year in non-lethal help to Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine would get a “positive and strong message” on its path to membership on Tuesday, as leaders of the Western military alliance meet to discuss the fallout from Russia’s invasion that brought war to their doorstep.
Divisions among NATO’s 31 members mean there will not be a straightforward invitation for Ukraine to join, something its Soviet-era overlord Moscow says would threaten its national security.
But Stoltenberg said Kyiv would get more military aid and an easing of formal conditions to join, as well as a new format of cooperation with the alliance, the so-called NATO-Ukraine Council.
“I am confident it will be a positive and strong message on Ukraine and the path forward for membership,” Stoltenberg said before hosting a summit in the Lithuanian capital.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan also said the gathering would send a “positive signal” about Kyiv’s membership bid. Diplomats were upbeat as negotiators were drawing close on the final agreement.
U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking alongside Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, whose country in extremely wary of consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine for eastern Europe, reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to the alliance.
“Our pledge to be with you has not wavered,” he said.
The summit is also set to approve NATO’s first comprehensive plans since the end of the Cold War to defend against any attack from Russia.
NATO head sees ‘strong message’ on Ukraine’s membership bid at summit | Reuters