Jens Stoltenberg made the remark at a news conference in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The NATO chief said: “Ukraine is conducting a major counter-offensive. It is still early days. And we do not know if this will be a turning point of the war. But we see that the Ukrainians are making advances and liberating more land.”
Stoltenberg added: “The more gains Ukraine makes, the stronger their hand will be at the negotiating table.”
‘Ukraine’s future is in NATO’
He declared that during NATO’s upcoming summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the alliance’s leaders would pledge that Ukraine’s future is in NATO.
Stoltenberg said: “At the Vilnius summit, we will send a strong message of support and solidarity with Ukraine. And make clear that Ukraine’s future is in NATO.”
Security guarantees for Ukraine
The NATO chief told reporters that allies must provide Ukraine with credible security guarantees “with a clear aim to prevent that when this war ends … Russia rests, reconstitutes, reallocates and then again attacks Ukraine.”
He added that individual NATO members “are discussing bilateral arrangements with Ukraine that will underpin this same goal, different types of security assurances, frameworks … to ensure that Ukraine for a long term receives the weapons, the systems they need to defend themselves.”
Speaking to reporters at NATO headquarters ahead of a two-day meeting of the alliance’s defence ministers, Stoltenberg said: “I expect ministers will agree to establish a new NATO Maritime Centre for the Security of Critical Undersea Infrastructure, within our Maritime Command in the United Kingdom.”
He also stressed “the urgent need to standardise and to ensure full interchangeability and standardisation” of NATO’s weapons and ammunition.
The NATO chief stated: “Since last fall, we have been working on how to ramp up production ... Standardisation is a core responsibility for NATO ... We need to do more.”
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Thursday is day 477 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, NATO
