NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Friday said the summit meeting of the 31-member military alliance in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius next week (July 11-12) "will send a clear message: NATO stands united And Russia?’s aggression will not pay." Speaking at a press conference at NATO Headquarters this afternoon, Stoltenberg said he expects that NATO leaders will agree on a package with three elements, to bring Ukraine closer to NATO.
First, to agree on a multi-year programme of assistance for Ukraine, secondly to upgrade political ties by establishing the NATO-Ukraine Council and thirdly to reaffirm that Ukraine will become a member of NATO.
But the NATO chief did not say when Ukraine will join NATO.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will join the NATO leaders for the inaugural meeting of the new NATO-Ukraine Council which is a platform for crisis consultation and decision-making, he announced.
The 2-day summit will also take major steps to strengthen deterrence and defence, with the adoption of three new regional defence plans to counter the two main threats to NATO: Russia and terrorism, he stated.
The plans will be supported by 300,000 troops on higher readiness, including substantial air and naval combat power.
Stoltenberg welcomed NATO?’s new defence spending estimates, released today, which show an increase of 8.3% for European members and Canada in 2023.
"This is the biggest increase in decades, and the ninth consecutive year of increases in our defence spending," said the Secretary General.
"So European Allies and Canada will have invested over 450 billion extra US dollars since we agreed on our defence investment pledge in 2014," he noted.
Leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, as well as the European Union, will also take part in the Vilnius Summit.
This will be Finland?’s first Summit as a NATO member, he noted, adding: "we look forward to Sweden joining as soon as possible."
Source: Kuwait News Agency
