NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday outlined a roadmap for Ukraine to become a member of the military alliance.
At next week's landmark summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will "reaffirm" an earlier commitment that Ukraine will join the alliance in the future, Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.
In September 2022, Ukraine announced a bid for fast-track NATO membership after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow had annexed four Ukrainian regions partially controlled by Russia. Should Ukraine become a member of the military alliance, NATO would be obligated to take action to defend the country against Russia in the war.
"I expect all leaders will reaffirm that Ukraine will become a member of NATO and unite on how to bring Ukraine closer to its goal," NATO's chief said.
Stoltenberg said that prior to Ukraine becoming a member of the 31-member alliance, a NATO-Ukraine council will be established. He described the council as "a political platform where we can have crisis consultations and also actually make decisions together and deepen our political cooperation."
NATO leaders will approve a multi-year support package for Ukraine at next week's Vilnius summit, starting on July 11, Stoltenberg added.
"The practical support, not least a multi-year program, also has a very political dimension, because by agreeing to stand by Ukraine and help them for the longer term, and to ensure full interoperability with NATO, we are helping Ukraine to come even closer to NATO and NATO membership," he said.
Ukraine has come "much closer" to NATO, according to Stoltenberg, "because NATO allies have worked closely with Ukraine for many years, especially since 2014."
"So this has ensured a much higher level of cooperation and interoperability between Ukraine and NATO," he said.
The NATO chief didn't offer a timeline for when Ukraine could become a member of the military alliance, but he said he is confident that NATO leaders will find a "united way also to address the specific issue on membership" at the summit.
"I will not go into the details of the exact language because that is something that we will announce when everything is in place by the summit."
Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and chair of the body's foreign affairs committee, previously told Newsweek that Ukraine would ideally like to receive an invitation to join NATO at next week's summit while acknowledging that the timeline and modality of accession must be subject to discussion.
"Maybe there will be the following model: the Vilnius summit produces the decision that Ukraine will join NATO, and the 2024 Washington summit produces the invitation to join NATO," Merezhko said.
Russia has brought "death and destruction to the heart of Europe" for 500 days, Stoltenberg said. "Our summit will send a clear message: NATO stands united, and Russia's aggression will not pay."
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in April that stopping Ukraine from joining NATO was "unconditionally" one of the goals of his country's invasion of its neighbor, "otherwise there would be a serious, substantial threat to our country and its security."
Newsweek reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry via email for comment.
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Update 07/07/23, 9:47 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
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