At the moment, it is difficult to predict when NATO may invite Ukraine to become a member of the military-political bloc, said the new Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Mark Rutte, answering a question from journalists. According to him, this may be shown by the development of events in the next six months, TASS reports.
Earlier, Mark Rutte stated the need to provide Kiev with a place in the North Atlantic bloc. He believes it is impossible to achieve stable security in Europe without a “strong Ukraine . “
Earlier, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Jens Stoltenberg handed over the powers of the Secretary General to Mark Rutte. The former Prime Minister of the Netherlands became the 14th leader of the North Atlantic bloc. Stoltenberg had been the head of the Alliance since 2014. He noted that at that time NATO provided “only a little support to Ukraine”, while now it is massive.
The new Secretary General of the Alliance outlined the main priorities of the work in his speech. According to him, the North Atlantic bloc intends to preserve Ukraine as an “independent democratic state.” Mark Rutte also pointed out the importance of increasing defense spending.