"Supporting Ukraine is not an act of charity; it's an investment in our security" – Stoltenberg
Photo: Europa Press
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that supporting Ukraine is not charity but an investment in global security.
Jens Stoltenberg said this at a joint press conference with US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin, according to Suspilne.
"The situation on the battlefield is difficult, but NATO allies provide unprecedented support to Ukraine. And we must continue to do so because supporting Ukraine is not charity; it is an investment in our security. The world will become more dangerous if Russian President Vladimir Putin wins in Ukraine, and he is also closely watched in China, Beijing," Stoltenberg said.
The NATO Secretary General emphasized that this makes it even more critical to continue supporting Ukraine.
"We also see growing competition with China. Beijing is not an adversary, but China is building up its military power, which causes more and more concern, and it is intimidating Taiwan. And all this affects our security," Stoltenberg added.
For his part, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said that deterrence and defense will always be a top priority for NATO.
"We have always made excellent progress in implementing the decisions made by our leaders, and through our adopted regional plans, we are providing deterrence in a wide theater of military operations in many areas and countering any challenge of the adversary, which shows the readiness of the Alliance to fight and win. This includes achieving and maintaining defense spending levels. This is necessary so that we can continue to support Ukraine and replenish our own stockpile of weapons and ammunition," Austin said.
On January 28, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that "at a certain stage," he wants to invite Ukraine to become a full member of the North Atlantic Alliance.
Earlier, Rubryka reported that from December 2023 to January 2024, 18 more NATO standards were implemented in the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and other security and defense sector components.
For reference:
On September 30, 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk, and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal signed Ukraine's application for accelerated accession to NATO.
Already this year, a summit of NATO countries took place in Vilnius on July 11 and 12, one of the main topics of which was Ukraine.
In the final communique of the summit, published on the Alliance's website, the heads of state and government of the North Atlantic Alliance recognized Ukraine's progress on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration. They confirmed that Ukraine's future lies with NATO.
In addition, despite the full-scale aggression of Russia and the daily challenges of war, the Ministry of Defense continues to develop professional education in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The DEEP program of the North Atlantic Alliance, through which 12 thousand servicemen of our army have already passed, helps him in this.
In general, three things are essential for Ukraine to join NATO:
- civil democratic control,
- transparency of procedures,
- joint planning of military operations.
Also, 287 NATO standards have already been implemented in the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine, and by the end of 2023, it is planned to implement about 200 North Atlantic Alliance standards.
The Ministry of Defense recently created a two-level procurement system based on NATO standards.
There are 1,135 standards in the North Atlantic Alliance; Ukraine has implemented about a quarter of them as of the end of November 2023.
