Jens Stoltenberg made the announcement at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The alliance’s secretary-general spoke to the media after the summit’s first working session, a meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government, including Polish President Andrzej Duda, in the North Atlantic Council.
The NATO chief said allies had taken decisions “to bring Ukraine closer to NATO, and reinforce the Alliance’s collective deterrence and defence,” according to officials.
NATO to invite Ukraine to join when ‘allies agree and conditions are met’
Stoltenberg said NATO’s package “bringing Ukraine closer” to the alliance consisted of a multi-year assistance programme “to facilitate the transition of the Ukrainian armed forces from Soviet-era to NATO standards;” the establishment of a new NATO-Ukraine Council; and a reaffirmation that “Ukraine will become a member of NATO.”
Allies also agreed to remove the requirement for Ukraine to complete “a Membership Action Plan,” which “will change Ukraine’s membership path from a two-step process to a one-step process,” the NATO chief said.
Stoltenberg added: “We also made it clear that we will issue an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO when Allies agree and conditions are met.”
He said NATO didn’t set out any timeframe for Ukraine’s accession as the accession process had always been about meeting requirements, the PAP news agency reported.
The same wording was used in the official Vilnius Summit Communiqué, issued after Tuesday’s talks, in which NATO leaders said: “We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree and conditions are met.”
Asked by reporters what conditions Ukraine needed to meet for membership, Stoltenberg said one dimension was having “good governance… modern defence and security institutions,” and “the other issue is the ongoing war in Ukraine.”
Stoltenberg stressed: “This is a strong package for Ukraine. And a clear path towards its membership in NATO…. There has never been a stronger message from NATO at any time.”
Accession of Sweden, Finland to NATO ‘historic,’ important for Baltics: Stoltenberg
The NATO chief also hailed the recent accession of Finland and the upcoming entry of Sweden as “historic” and “in particular important for the Baltic region,” the PAP news agency reported.
NATO allies agree to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defence
Stoltenberg also said: “Today, Allies made an enduring commitment to invest at least 2% of Gross Domestic Product annually in defence.”
He added: “Eleven Allies now reach or exceed the 2% benchmark.
And we expect this number will rise substantially next year.”
He stressed: “NATO aims to have 300,000 troops at high readiness, including substantial air and naval power…. To do all this, we need to invest more in defence.”
Poland, 10 fellow NATO countries to train Ukrainians on F-16s
Meanwhile, Poland was among 11 NATO countries whose defence ministers on Tuesday set up a coalition to train Ukrainian pilots and technicians on the US-made F-16 fighter jets, the PAP news agency reported.
The other countries are Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania and Sweden, according to officials.
Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said in a tweet: “I would like to thank Denmark and the Netherlands for launching and coordinating this very important initiative.”
The Vilnius summit continues on Wednesday.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Tuesday is day 503 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, NATO, Politico