BRUSSELS, April 3. /TASS/. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has made it clear to Kiev that the NATO membership process differs from that in the EU and that Ukraine will not get an invitation to join the alliance unless it is totally ready.

"We made important decisions last year, we are implementing those now with the removal of the Membership Action Plan, we should not introduce something that is similar to a kind of second or two step process," he told reporters after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

The NATO Secretary General was responding to a Ukrainian reporter’s question on whether the Kiev government can expect even a tentative invitation to join during the upcoming NATO summit in July.

" I think it's very important to maintain the one-step process for Ukraine to become a member, removing the requirement for Membership Action Plan and then ensuring that when an invitation is issued then that's the same as becoming a member as it is in NATO," Stoltenberg continued. "That's the difference between NATO and the European Union. In the European Union, of course, when you're invited, it can take years from an invitation to membership. While in NATO, when you're invited, it's something that happens soon after."

Prior to that, Stoltenberg said that "all allies agree that Ukraine will become a member" of NATO, the only question at this point is when.