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All NATO allies agree Ukraine should be member, but after victory — NATO chief

Jens Stoltenberg also said the alliance will help Ukraine to build a "better and brighter future" for its people

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg AP Photo/Matthias Schrader

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

© AP Photo/Matthias Schrader

BRUSSELS, April 21. /TASS/. All NATO member countries have agreed that Ukraine should join the alliance, but a meaningful discussion of the issue is possibly only after it wins in the armed conflict with Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.

He made the statement as he arrived at US Ramstein Air Base in Germany before a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group that will consider new supplies of weapons to Kiev.

"All NATO Allies have agreed that Ukraine will become a member," he said in comments broadcast by the alliance. But he said "if Ukraine doesn't prevail as a sovereign, independent nation in Europe, there is no meaning in discussing membership."

Stoltenberg also said the alliance will help Ukraine to build a "better and brighter future" for its people.

The secretary general, who visited Kiev on April 20, said his message to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was that NATO will support Ukraine over a long time. He pledged new weapons supplies to Kiev and assistance to ensure that the systems, which have already been provided, function well. The NATO chief said the Ukrainian president had asked the alliance to supply more air defense systems, heavy tanks and jets.

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