NATO Chief Says Expect Deal on Helping Ukraine Reach Alliance Standards

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he expects the alliance’s members to agree on a plan to help Ukraine reach NATO standards. The agreement is expected to be made during the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius in July.

On Tuesday, Stoltenberg said he expects NATO allies to agree on a multi-year deal to help Ukraine advance to the alliance’s standards in the upcoming summit in Vilnius this July. This comes as Ukraine is looking to join the alliance despite opposition from Russia, with Kyiv having already applied for membership last year during Russia’s invasion.

“I expect that we will agree on a multi-year program, where we will work on how to help Ukraine transition from Soviet-era standards, doctrines, and equipment to NATO standards and doctrines and equipment and become fully interoperable with NATO,” Stoltenberg told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit in remarks delivered via video link. “Doing that will also help Ukraine move towards NATO membership.”

Stoltenberg also reiterated that he plans to step down as the alliance’s head when his term ends in October.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated the appeal for Kyiv to become a member of the alliance, which expanded in April, with Finland becoming the latest member to join. While Ukraine’s Western allies have provided Kyiv with weapons and vehicles to fight off Russia’s aggression, Kyiv is looking for stronger security guarantees for the future in its aspiration to join the NATO alliance.

“It is time to remove the biggest security uncertainty in Europe…that is, to approve a positive political decision on membership in NATO,” said Zelenskyy in a video address to the summit. “This is worth doing at the July summit already. This will be a timely signal.”

In late April, Stoltenberg said that NATO countries and its partners have already delivered almost 98 percent of the vehicles and arms it has pledged to Ukraine. NATO allies and partner countries have provided Ukraine with 1550 armored vehicles and 230 tanks to form units to boost its expected counteroffensive.

Stoltenberg told reporters in a news conference that the alliance has already trained and armed over nine Ukrainian units.

Photo: Finnish Government/Wikimedia Commons(CC by 2.0)