NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has been reluctant to allow Ukraine to join the Alliance until it defeats Russia. “All NATO allies agreed that Ukraine will eventually become a member of the alliance, but the main objective now is to ensure that the country prevails against Russia,” he said.

In a conversation with reporters ahead of a Ukraine defense contact group meeting at the Ramstein airbase in Germany, Stoltenberg has also told reporters that once the war in Ukraine is over, kyiv must have “the deterrence to prevent further attacks.”

This was the statement made by the NATO Secretary General after stating this Thursday before the Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelenski, on his first visit to kyiv since the start of the war, Allied support for Ukraine to counter Russian aggression. On this occasion he insisted that kyiv “has a place in NATO.”

“NATO stands with Ukraine. We stood by you after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and we are by your side todayin your heroic fight against the Russian invaders and in defense of your country”, he underlined then. Statements that just one day after his surprise visit to Kiev this Thursday, his first trip to Ukraine since the start of the Russian military aggression makes 14 months, he qualified.

Stoltenberg is now focusing on NATO’s support for Ukraine for the duration of the war because, he warns, “adherence does not make sense without independence” and also if Kiev is not capable of repelling new attacks. This Thursday, he stressed that the allies have supplied more than 150,000 million euros in aid, of which 65,000 in military assistance. “We will continue by your side tomorrow as you rebuild and work for a better future for the Ukrainian people,” she added.

“Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO and, over time, our support will help them make it possible,” he told the Ukrainian leader.