Ukraine's Minister of Defense, Alexei Reznikov, expressed confidence that the Russian-Ukrainian war would end with a victory for Kyiv by the next NATO summit, CNN has reported.
“After the victory, after then, it will be in the interest of NATO because we became a real eastern shield of NATO or eastern shield of Europe. Ukraine has gained “real combat experience — how to deter Russians, to defeat them, to beat them with using NATO standard weaponry,” Reznikov said.
He anticipates that Ukraine will be invited to join the alliance following this outcome. The upcoming NATO summit, to be held in Washington in July 2024, marks the 75th anniversary of NATO's establishment, and Reznikov sees this as a potentially significant day for Ukraine, though he acknowledges it's merely a forecast.
Reznikov clarified that while Ukraine's Armed Forces largely meet NATO's requirements, the country cannot be admitted to the alliance during a full-scale war. Nevertheless, he promised that Ukraine would continue necessary reforms to qualify for NATO membership.
Furthermore, Ukrainian pilots will begin training to operate American F-16 aircraft in August 2023, with these planes possibly appearing in the Ukrainian skies by spring 2024.
During the recent NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11-12, Ukraine's inclusion in the alliance was a prominent topic. The participating NATO countries agreed to streamline Ukraine's accession process, and the G7 nations provided assurances of security guarantees to Ukraine, pledging continued military, financial support, and intelligence sharing. In the event of any further aggression by Russia against Ukraine, immediate actions will be taken by the G7 countries.
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, expressed optimism after the summit, acknowledging the "big positive" the country received from the meeting, despite not obtaining an immediate invitation to join the alliance.
Follow Daryo's official Instagram and Threads pages to keep up to date on world news.
Comments (0)