RSS
Mircea Geoana: Ukraine to be among equals around NATO table at Vilnius Summit
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said on Friday, at a meeting with military teachers and students in Sibiu, that Ukraine will be "one of the equals around the NATO table" and will receive "security guarantees " at the Vilnius Summit (July 11-12), where a "political relationship upgrade" will take place.
"Obviously, a decision on the next level of the political relationship between NATO and Ukraine will be taken by our leaders in Vilnius. I cannot anticipate what our leaders will decide. But there is already a conversation and a decision to upgrade the relationship politically, replacing the current NATO-Ukraine Commission with the NATO-Ukraine Council, which will make the Ukrainians not NATO members, but equals around the NATO table; they will be between Turkey and the UK, so not here as a guest, but there with all the consequences related to our ability to work together with them and make decisions together on the national security and the future of Ukraine. Ukraine will become a member of the Euro-Atlantic family. The European Union has invited them in; at the Summit in Bucharest, we decided that they will become our members. Whether there is consensus inside NATO and the conditions in place for Ukraine to be invited in is a political matter and probably our leaders will have until the summit and at the summit several other components," said Geoana.
Geoana voiced support for assisting Ukraine in the medium and long term to resist Russian pressure. "Over time, Russia risks becoming dangerous again," even if Ukraine wins this war, said Geoana.
"We are not talking about security guarantees; that will probably be discussed, it is already being discussed - we will wait and see what form this shapes up, probably not through NATO, but in a slightly more variable geometry - about security assurances , which means that we actually have an integrated system and in the medium and long term to support Ukraine to be able to resist Russian pressure. Even if now we hope that it will have less chances - and I think that Ukraine will win this fight - over time, Russia risks becoming dangerous again," added Geoana.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said last Friday he expected Ukraine to receive a clear signal and 'formula' for it to become a member of NATO when the military alliance holds a summit in Vilnius in July, according to the Reuters news agency.
In Sibiu on Friday, NATO Deputy Secretary General Geoana toured NATO's Headquarters Multinational Division Southeast (HQ MND-SE) and the Nicolae Balcescu Land Forces Academy.