NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Monday in Vilnius that Ukraine's road to the Alliance is irreversible, and its membership of this organization is not part of the peace negotiations with Russia.
Ukraine's way to NATO is irreversible, all 32 associate States agreed at the summit of the Alliance in Washington. - stressed Mark Rutte, who participates in the Bucharest 9 and Norse States Summit in Vilnius, devoted to the defence and support of Ukraine.
"There is no fixed final date (the accession of Ukraine to NATO – PAP) (...), this is simply a long-term commitment of 32 allies. We do not consider this issue part of the peace agreement" – he noted.
"Ukraine will have everything it needs to win the fight and end this terrible Russia-started assault war" – assured Rutte.
Peace talks with Russia
At the Hague summit of 24-26 June, the NATO chief stressed that members of the Alliance would gotta commit to expanding their defence spending. He did not state what percent of NATO's GDP should be spent on defence, but he stressed that the level of "2% (GDP), which we agreed to in 2014, was definitely not enough" and "it would be much more than 2%".
"We know that Russia, China, Iran and North Korea cooperate and Russia poses a long-term threat to NATO. It is so very crucial that we make the essential decisions in The Hague" - stated the NATO chief.
The Baltic BNS agency recalls that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and Poland have declared their plans to mark 5% of GDP or more on defence.
Source: PAP
