This Monday (29 April 2024), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom he provided an update on the war in Ukraine and on the support that NATO will continue to provide to the country.
The Secretary General praised the leadership of President Zelensky and the courage of the Ukrainian army and people, before adding: “But these qualities alone cannot be enough to repel Russian forces; we also need weapons and ammunition.” He also noted that some deliveries were significantly delayed, which had serious consequences on the battlefield. “For months, Ukraine has been struggling to compete with Russian firepower… It no longer shoots down as many missiles and drones, and Russia has been able to make progress on the ground,” he observed . “But it’s not too late: Ukraine can still win, and more support is on the way. »
Stoltenberg said that a few days earlier, at a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, defense ministers had heard President Zelensky’s unequivocal call, and “decided to increase support to Ukraine.” He welcomed the adoption by the United States of a new package of measures, providing substantial aid of more than $60 billion, and welcomed the new commitments made by the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands, before specifying that he expected “other announcements to follow soon”.
The Secretary General and the Ukrainian President also discussed the preparatory work for the NATO summit to be held in July. “Allies have already decided to plan to strengthen NATO’s role in coordinating security assistance and training activities for Ukraine,” said Mr. Stoltenberg. . And he continued: “I am of the opinion that we must also make a significant multi-year financial commitment to ensure long-term support for Ukraine, to show that this is not a one-off effort, but of predictable action, carried out over the long term. Moscow must understand this well: Russia cannot win. She won’t wear us out.”
Mr. Stoltenberg also spoke on the question of membership: “Ukraine’s place is within NATO. Ukraine will become a member of NATO. The meaning of the work we are doing today is to make Ukraine’s path towards membership irreversible, so that it can join the Organization as soon as the time is right.”
