Ukraine is now closer than ever to NATO, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said today during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from Vilnius, Lithuania.

“I look forward to the day when we meet as allies,” Stoltenberg told Zelensky, but did not elaborate on when and how Ukraine would join NATO.

At the same time, the general secretary estimated that the greatest danger of the war in Ukraine would be a military victory of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Ukraine has the right to choose its own path,” he stressed, adding that “it will not be decided by Moscow.”

For his part, the Ukrainian president commented that the results of the NATO meeting were good, but it would have been ideal if there had been an invitation to Kiev to join the Alliance.

At the same time, Zelensky estimated that it was important to recognize that Ukraine does not need to follow the Accession Action Plan (MAP) and added that he received positive news regarding the defense packages announced during the session.

Moreover, the Ukrainian president welcomed the announcement of “security guarantees” by the G7 countries, underlining, however, that these cannot replace a future admission to NATO.

“Security guarantees are very important for the Ukrainian people, but they are guarantees to Ukraine on the way to NATO membership”, and not “instead of NATO membership”, he stressed.