NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has reaffirmed the alliance’s commitment to Ukraine, saying they will one day become a NATO member.
Stoltenberg’s remarks came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his NATO counterparts gathered in Romania to discuss increased support for Ukraine as Moscow continues to bombard energy infrastructure.
“NATO’s door is open,” Stoltenberg said.
“Russia does not have a veto” on countries joining, he said about the recent entry of North Macedonia and Montenegro into the security alliance. He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin “will get Finland and Sweden as NATO members” soon.
The Nordic neighbours applied for membership in April, concerned that Russia might target them next.
“We stand by that, too, on membership for Ukraine,” the former Norwegian prime minister said.
“there are a lot of plans on the table” at the NATO meeting of foreign ministers.
“Stoltenberg is promising a wide range of measures to continually support Ukraine at this foreign ministers’ meeting, there are a lot of plans on the table, but this is, of course, an organisation, an alliance of 30 states in which consensus is the rule,” Simmons said.
“Not all the states agree that military aid should be given to Ukraine so you have coalitions of the willing, so to speak.”
Ministers will also be discussing non-lethal aid in terms of heating, Simmons explained, but “the major issue right now is the winterisation of this war, the use of the cold as a weapon by Russia, targeted attacks on infrastructure in the country, and blackouts all across Ukraine”.
“There is a desperate need for better air defence systems. There is a whole range of weaponry available, but there is resistance by some states about deploying them within Ukraine, and that is a major issue that is going to be discussed over the next 48 hours,” he added.
