Ukraine in NATO: Stoltenberg Called the Deadlines

Any country wishing to join NATO is required to fulfill certain conditions and thus comply with specific standards. NATO’s position on the timing of Ukraine’s inclusion has not changed after this strategic course of Kyiv was enshrined in the constitution. This country will someday become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking at Columbia University in New York. NATO Secretary General confirmed that the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky raised this topic at a meeting with him couple days ago in New York within 74th session of the UN General Assembly. “I attended the NATO Summit at Bucharest in 2008, when we decided that Ukraine and Georgia would become members of NATO. We did not say when this will happen, since any country wishing to join NATO is obliged to fulfill certain conditions and thus meet specific standards,” Stoltenberg recalled. “I consider it important for Ukraine and NATO to focus on reforms, on the modernization and strengthening of Ukrainian defense and security institutions, on strengthening the rule of law, the fight against corruption to allow us to help Ukraine move closer to joining the North Atlantic Alliance. It’s not for me to decide when they will be ready, but I welcome the fact that the Ukrainian government has clearly stated that it will focus on these reforms,” continued Stoltenberg. “We are working with Ukraine, and I hope that someday we will welcome it with us,” the NATO Secretary General said, assuring that Russia was not competent to influence the final decision on the Kyiv joining the alliance. Korrespondent