NATO Summit solidifies Ukraine's "irreversible path" to membership and commences F-16 transfer
The 75th NATO anniversary summit was held in Washington, the capital of the United States of America, from July 9 to 11. At this summit, the leaders of the allied countries made several decisions concerning Ukraine.
Rubryka reports this.
The joint declaration based on the summit results first determined that Ukraine is on the "irreversible path" to membership in the Alliance. The very presence of the wording about the "irreversibility" of Ukraine's accession to NATO will be a significant signal for both Kyiv and Moscow.
In the joint document, allied countries stated that "the future of Ukraine is in NATO" and recognized that Ukraine is becoming increasingly operationally and politically integrated with the Alliance.
NATO also welcomed Ukraine's "concrete progress" regarding the necessary democratic, economic, and security reforms after that year's Vilnius summit.
- In addition, the Allies announced their intention to provide Ukraine with a minimum base funding of 40 billion euros over the next year.
- Also, at the reception after the round table "Women, peace and security," US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced $7 million in aid for Ukrainian female military personnel. These funds will be spent on over 10,000 uniforms, shoes, and other necessary equipment for military women.
Based on the summit's results, a security and training support structure for Ukraine was established. This structure will support the transformation of the Defense and Security Forces, ensuring further integration with NATO.
- The summit's new decisions also related to Western F-16 fighter jets, which Ukraine has been promising to provide for many months, and other weapons.
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- Thus, at the event, it became known that Denmark and the Netherlands had already begun the process of transferring Western F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. They will fly in the Ukrainian sky this summer. Additional details of the aircraft transfer are not being released at this time due to operational security reasons.
- Norway announced that it will transfer six F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Currently, Ukrainian pilots and technical personnel are undergoing training.
- In turn, the head of the Pentagon said that the F-16 aircraft would be "another sign of deep commitment to the self-defense of Ukraine" from the coalition of allied countries, which "worked tirelessly to provide Ukraine with these fighters."
- On the sidelines of the summit, in addition to the planes, the leaders of the USA, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Romania announced the transfer to Ukraine of five Patriot and SAMP-T strategic air defense systems and the provision of dozens of tactical air defense systems in the near future.
