Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasised the need for his country to become a member of NATO, during the Alliance’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg’s, first visit to Kyiv on Thursday 20 April.
At a press conference, Mr Zelensky said the visit was “a sign that the Alliance is ready to start a new chapter in relations with Ukraine – a chapter of ambitious decisions”.
Invited to participate in the NATO summit in July in Vilnius, the Ukrainian president said it was “important that Ukraine also receives a corresponding invitation”. “There is no objective barrier that would prevent the adoption of political decisions on inviting Ukraine to the Alliance. (...) It is time for appropriate decisions”, he said. According to Mr Zelensky, “it is no longer possible to imagine the security of the Euro-Atlantic area without Ukraine”.
Mr Stoltenberg tempered Ukrainian expectations. While reiterating that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO” and that the Allies should enhance their military support for Ukraine at the summit, the Secretary General explained that the main goal of the Alliance and the Allies was to ensure that Ukraine prevails. “The focus is to ensure that Ukraine continues to be a sovereign, independent democratic nation in Europe. That is the only way to also have a meaningful discussion about Ukraine’s future membership”, he added.
Ahead of the NATO summit, the Ukrainian president expressed his hope that the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein) on 21 April would lead to the supply of additional equipment to his country.
He asked Mr Stoltenberg to help him overcome the reluctance of some partners to supply long-range weapons, modern aircraft, artillery and armoured vehicles. “The inhibition of appropriate decisions is time lost for peace and the lives of our soldiers, who have not yet received the vitally necessary number of defence tools”, warned Mr Zelensky.
Mr Stoltenberg said he expected there to be further announcements of military support at the meeting, without saying whether this would be in line with Mr Zelensky’s demands. In addition to discussing new types of weaponry, “it is extremely important to ensure that all the systems, all the weapons which are already in Ukraine work as they should, meaning that they need enormous amounts of ammunition, spare parts, maintenance, repair capabilities”, the Secretary General recalled. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)