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NATO won’t be part of Ukraine conflict, it won’t cross this line, says Scholz

According to the German chancellor, the NATO summit will discuss the strengthening of its role in coordinating support for Ukraine and training the Ukrainian armed forces

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz AP Photo/Omar Havana

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

© AP Photo/Omar Havana

BERLIN, June 26. /TASS/. NATO is not and will not be part of the conflict in Ukraine, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.

"The NATO summit will discuss the strengthening of its role in coordinating support for Ukraine and training [the Ukrainian armed forces]," Scholz said at the Bundestag in regard to the EU and NATO summits, due to be held on June 27-28 and July 9-11 respectively.

"It is simultaneously obvious and I find it important to state that due to what we are doing, NATO will not be part of the conflict. We will not cross this line and we are not crossing it," he said.

The chancellor claimed that NATO was unanimously concerning this issue.

"Transatlantic security is of central importance, including when we think about Ukraine’s security prospects," Scholz said.

The next NATO summit will be held in the US capital on July 9-11. US officials have repeatedly stated that Kiev will not receive an invitation to join the North Atlantic Alliance at the Washington summit. On July 11, 2023, the NATO summit in Vilnius adopted a final statement asserting that Ukraine’s future is in the alliance, but adding that the invitation to Kiev to join NATO could be extended "when Allies agree and conditions are met." However, no possible timeline for admission was specified.

Prior to the Vilnius summit, Kiev had been making persistent statements about its aspiration to receive the membership invitation. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky even said that he might not attend the summit if it made no decision to invite Kiev, but afterwards he still opted to travel to Vilnius.

In September 2022, Ukraine applied for fast-tracked admission to NATO. The alliance has repeatedly said that it is impossible to join NATO as long as the country is in a state of an armed conflict.

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