NATO Secretary General: Ukraine to become Alliance member

Kyiv repeals its non-bloc status.

It was said by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference following the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, Evropeiska Pravda writes.

“And Ukraine decided some years ago to be a non-bloc nation. And then I respected that. Now, I have seen that the new government is announcing that they will change that. And if they do, then of course, I respect that too,” Stoltenberg said, adding that if Ukraine applied for NATO membership, the application would be considered.

Dmytro Kulebo, Ambassador at Large at the Ukrainian MFA confirms that Kyiv announced its decision at the Ukraine-NATO meeting.

NATO Secretary General stressed that the Alliance considered the decision of the 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest on Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic prospects to be valid.

NATO continues to adhere to the position that Ukraine will become a member of the Alliance, Stoltenberg said.

But the final decision on the application and membership should be made by Ukraine, he stressed. NATO will respect Ukraine's decision to apply for membership if it is taken and will also respect the decision not to apply for membership, Stoltenberg said.

A decision on closer cooperation between Ukraine and NATO is expected to be taken in Brussels on Tuesday.