He NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the leaders of the Atlantic Alliance agreed on Tuesday they will invite Ukraine to join the organization if the allies agree and if the country meets the conditions.

Stoltenberg said at a press conference that the NATO “will issue the invitation when allies agree and conditions are met” necessary for Kyiv’s accession to the transatlantic organization. The Norwegian politician spoke to the media in this sense during the NATO summit of heads of state and government that will be held today and tomorrow in Vilnius.

When asked about the statements of the Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelensky, while addressing the summit, that it is “absurd” that the alliance would not give an invitation date for your countryStoltenberg stressed that the allies “decided today on a strong, united and positive message to Ukraine about continued support, but also a positive message about the path to membership”.

Stoltenberg indicated that the leaders of the Allied countries did the same agreed today to simplify the process of Ukraine’s future accession to NATO, by agreeing to scrap the so-called “Accession Action Plan” (MAP) for Ukraine. That decision means that the Ukrainian government does not have to participate in a multi-year program to demonstrate that it has made the necessary military, economic and political reforms to join the military alliance.

Stoltenberg explained that the removal of the MAP requirement will move Ukraine’s NATO accession process from a “two-step” process to a “one-step” one. Allies also approved a new multi-year program that ensures full interoperability of Ukrainian forces with those of NATO.

In addition, leaders agreed to take political relations to the next level by establishing the NATO-Ukraine Council, a forum in which both sides will participate as equals.