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NATO not to fast-track Ukraine into alliance, to create Ukraine-NATO Council

According to Jens Stoltenberg, during the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, the member states will discuss how to step up and sustain support for Ukraine in the form of weapons and spare parts so that it could take as much territory as possible

BRUSSELS, June 1. /TASS/. NATO will not fast-track Kiev’s acceptance into the alliance, but it is ready to elevate the status of the NATO-Ukraine commission to a council, where Ukraine will take part as an equal with other members of the organization, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a press conference after the informal meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Oslo Thursday.

According to Stoltenberg, during the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, the member states will discuss how to step up and sustain support for Ukraine in the form of weapons and spare parts so that it could take as much territory as possible.

"We are also ready to discuss Ukraine’s NATO membership aspirations and all allies agree that NATO’s door is open to new members; all allies also agree that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance, and all allies agree that it is [up] to the NATO allies and Ukraine to decide when Ukraine becomes a member. Moscow has no veto power against NATO enlargement," Stoltenberg said, adding that right now is not the time to say when this may happen.

NATO wants victory

The Secretary General underscored that no decisions were made on the security guarantees requested by Ukraine. He stated that the matter continues to be discussed and underscored that the meeting was informal and not aimed at any decision-making.

According to Stoltenberg, NATO must provide long-term military aid to Ukraine and consider a system of security guarantees for Ukraine. He noted, however, that it remains to be decided how exactly that will be done.

The Secretary General stated that the most important thing for NATO is to ensure that Ukraine wins the war, but emphasized that this does not make NATO a party to the conflict.

Stoltenberg stated that, if Russia wins the conflict, it will be a "tragedy" for Ukraine and will also be very dangerous for NATO, because it will make NATO "vulnerable.".

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