NATO ends the Vilnius summit with the first meeting of allies and kyiv on an equal footing

The leaders of the countries of the NATO concluded this Wednesday the summit that they have held in Vilnius with the first meeting of NATO-Ukraine Councila new forum in which kyiv and the allies will be able to carry out consultations and make decisions on an equal footing and with which the Alliance seeks to strengthen its political relationship with the former Soviet republic.

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“I have just chaired the inaugural meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. From now on, the NATO and Ukraine they will meet in the Council to discuss and decide as equals. This is a significant step in bringing Ukraine to the NATO”, declared the secretary general of the NATO, Jens Stoltenbergin a press conference after the second and last day of the allied summit held in the Lithuanian capital.

The rapprochement between alliance and Ukraine has been precisely the main result of a summit in which, however, the NATO has avoided inviting kyiv to join the transatlantic organization.

Even so, the leaders agreed to simplify the process of future Ukrainian accession to the NATO and gave the green light to a new multiannual program that guarantees the full interoperability of the Ukrainian forces with those of the alliance.

In the statement adopted at the meeting, they pointed out that the NATO will be “in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when the allies agree and the conditions are met”.

On Tuesday they also gave the green light to establish the NATO-Ukraine Councilwhich today held its first meeting in the presence of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

“It is extremely important to recognize that the decisions that all allies have made are the strongest message about Ukraine and the membership that is alliance has never done, by clearly stating that Ukraine will become a member, that the future of Ukraine is in the NATO and also when describing the way ahead”exposed stoltenberg.

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He added that this Wednesday the allies had “a very good meeting with the president Zelensky and his delegation, in which he welcomed the very strong message from the allies of the NATOwelcomed the establishment of the NATO-Ukraine Council and also the clear commitment to bring Ukraine to the membership”.

Zelensky considered yesterday “absurd” that alliance was not going to give an invitation date for his country’s accession, but today he opted for a conciliatory tone and thanked the NATO the support obtained by his country from its Western allies.

“The outcome of the summit NATO in Vilnius it is a success that Ukraine needed and that has a great meaning”, he stated, on a stage with the leaders of the group of seven on the margins of the summit.

Asked about those changes of opinion, stoltenberg referred to the situationextremely difficult” In which it is found Ukrainegiven the war.

He also celebrated that Zelensky have applauded the creation of the NATO-Ukraine Council or the simplification of the future admission process in the alliance for kyiv.

In addition, he affirmed that, once the Russian war of aggression against Ukrainethat country’s path towards accession to the Atlantic Alliance will form part of the security guarantees for kyiv.

On the fringes of the summit, members of the G7 today signed a statement with Zelensky in which they undertake to guarantee the safety of Ukraine in the long term and coordinate with kyiv before any attack Russia in the future to determinethe proper steps”.

The goal is to prevent future attacks and offer some security to Ukraine until you can complete your enrollment process Atlantic Alliance.

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PACIFIC AND CHINA

Beyond Ukraine, the leaders also met today with the heads of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, partners of the alliance in it indopacific.

“The NATO is a alliance regional, but we face global challenges. What happens in Europe is important to him indopacific and what happens in the indopacific has importance for North America and Europe”commented stoltenberg.

He added that the “overall firmness” of China and the war of Russia against Ukraine “require even closer coordination between the NATOthe European Union and our partners indopacific”.

“The NATO is strengthening our links with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea with tailor-made partnership programmes, including working together on issues such as maritime safety, new technologies, the cyber realmclimate change and resilience”said stoltenberg.

During the summit of Vilniusthe allies also pledged to allocate at least 2% of their GDP each year to military investment and approved new regional plans for the defense of the territory of the NATO.

All this having met on the eastern flank of the alliancea few kilometers from the Russian enclave of kaliningrad and of belarusthe Kremlin’s staunchest ally.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.