NATO announces new step in Ukraine’s path to membership

The decision to be adopted by the leaders of NATO member states at the summit in The Hague will be the next step in building a “bridge” between Ukraine and the Alliance.

This was stated by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in The Hague at the beginning of his meeting with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reports a European Pravda correspondent.

Rutte emphasized that the Allies still consider the Alliance’s previous pro-Ukrainian decisions valid, including those made at the Washington Summit, and that these will be indirectly confirmed in the final document of The Hague Summit.

“There will be an important reference to Ukraine, which is actually built upon the decision of last year’s Washington Summit, which confirmed Ukraine’s irreversible path to NATO,” he said.

Mark Rutte did not specify exactly what he considered such indirect confirmation, but it is known that the summit declaration is expected to include a statement on funding Ukraine’s defense through the defense budgets of NATO member states.

“We are building a bridge (between Ukraine and NATO), as was outlined in the Washington decision,” he added.

As previously reported, on Tuesday, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof also stated that he considers Ukraine part of the Euro-Atlantic family.

On the eve of the summit, Secretary General Rutte revealed what the NATO summit’s decision regarding Ukraine will contain.