Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Allies have provided Ukraine with around €40 billion in military support annually and "should maintain at least this level of support each year for as long as necessary".
Stoltenberg called on NATO to continue supporting Ukraine
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced the proposal regarding Ukraine at a press conference during a meeting of foreign ministers in the Czech Republic.
I also suggested that allies actively share this burden.
According to the NATO Secretary General, such a long-term commitment will ensure that Ukraine will have the predictability necessary for waging war, self-defence and reconstruction planning.
And it will also send a message to Moscow that it will not be able to "wait out" the West.
Jens Stoltenberg
Secretary General of NATO
NATO members, says Stoltenberg, have agreed that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance and are working on how to bring Ukraine closer to it.
Our discussions were focused on supporting Ukraine. We want to stop this war, but the paradox is that the better we prepare for the long term, the sooner the war will end.
No "final decisions" were made, Stoltenberg said, but participants "made significant progress" on several issues. Among them is NATO's intention to play a coordinating role in supplying Ukraine with equipment.
Virtually all military aid to Ukraine, 99% comes from NATO allies. So it makes sense for NATO to play a bigger role in this effort. This will allow us to use alliance structures to put our support on a stronger footing, provide Kyiv with greater predictability, and meet both immediate and long-term needs.
Among the other issues that were discussed was the continuation of financial support to Ukraine "every year as much as it will be needed".
The participants of the meeting in Prague discussed Ukraine's path to NATO.
Allies agree that Ukraine's future is in NATO, and we are determined to make progress in shaping that path. Membership in the alliance will be the final guarantee of Ukraine's security. This will provide the stability needed to rebuild the country.
He emphasised: Russia started this war, annexed Crimea, is waging the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, attacks hospitals, schools, and shopping centers, bombs energy infrastructure, and kills the peaceful Ukrainian population.
Therefore, Ukraine has the right to defend itself "against the terrible brutality of Russia" and this is not an escalation.
Self-defence is not escalation. Self-defence is a fundamental right. This is enshrined in the UN Charter. Ukraine has the right and obligation to defend its people, and we have the right to help Ukraine support its right to self-defence.
About the permission to attack targets inside Russia, Stoltenberg added:
I welcome the fact that the Allies are easing restrictions on the use of weapons. We must remember that this is Russia's war, Russia attacked Ukraine, and Ukraine has the right to self-defense. And the right to self-defense also includes strikes on legitimate military targets in Russia.
The Secretary General noted that Russia, by shifting its efforts to the northern front, brought the war to its borders, unlike the battlefield, which was previously deeper into Ukrainian territory.
NATO is not intimidated by dictator Putin's threats
As the secretary general of the bloc noted, the threats of official Moscow are not something fundamentally new.
We have been providing aid to Ukraine since 2022... For a long time, Putin intimidated us, urging us not to do this. Even before the start of the invasion in February 2022, he warned us not to help Ukraine and threatened the consequences... Therefore, there is nothing new here.
In addition, Stoltenberg once again repeated the statement he made on the eve of the NATO meeting, that Ukraine should strike at Russia in order to defend itself.
Ukraine has the right to self-defence (with NATO weapons) and this does not make NATO a participant in the war, he added.
