Ukraine will become NATO member, it receives appropriate weapons and training – Sunak

Sunak said this at a meeting of Ukrainian journalists, European Pravda reports.

“I agree with Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, who said that Ukraine will become a NATO member. But we also need to focus on the current situation. For me, that means making sure we have a plan to continue to support Ukraine's security – not just immediately, but in the long term,” the UK PM said.

He noted that “part of this is the training we provide.”

“This is a good example of what you want to do. Because ideally, on the way to NATO membership, you need to provide Ukraine with more standard NATO equipment, and you need to ensure interoperability of all the forces of different countries and how they use that equipment, so training Ukrainian pilots in NATO tactics is also part of that process. These are things that we can work on right now, and we have to work on strengthening Ukraine's security in the long run,” he added.

According to Sunak, he told his partners and allies that this discussion "should be held."

“We have to make sure that we're talking about the long-term future of Ukraine, and that means, as I said, providing more NATO standard equipment, finding ways to increase operational readiness, and really making sure that we're thinking about the long-term defense needs of Ukraine, especially things like air defense, for example, and other things. These are all conversations that I want to have with our allies,” Sunak emphasized.

Sunak also confirmed that London is ready to help other countries that decide to provide aircraft to Ukraine, noting that this is a difficult task for Britain itself.

In addition, the UK prime minister believes that long-range weapons and accelerated support for Ukraine can boost the advantage of Ukrainian troops on the battlefield.

• Rishi Sunak expects that by the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, the allies will be able to finalize the draft security guarantees for Ukraine.