"Russia will recover, rest": Stoltenberg explained when Ukraine is invited to NATO

At a summit in Vilnius last year, as the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reminded, all members of the Alliance agreed that Ukraine would become a member of the bloc. There is a difference between Ukraine's invitation to membership in the European Union and NATO, and the Alliance enters the Alliance requires that the war will not start again. This was stated by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference, answering questions of Interfax-Ukraine.

He emphasized that the EU negotiations may last for years, and NATO invitation is similar to membership in an organization with the right of application of Article 5. Ukraine can become a member of the Alliance when the necessary criteria will be fulfilled. Secretary General noted that all allies agreed that Ukraine would be a member of the bloc. At the summit in Vilnius last year there were appropriate discussions. "We have to maintain the process in one stage by removing the MAP," he explained.

Stoltenberg said not to return to the two -stage process of membership. NATO, as the official explained, Ukraine may enter when the war will end and there will be appropriate guarantees that Russia will not be aggressive again. "You have to understand that when this war is over, there should be some guarantees that it will not happen again, that it will not be a pause, during which Russia will recover, rest, and then regroups and attacks again," Stoltenberg stressed.