Promise to accept Ukraine into NATO will remain in force even if not mentioned at alliance summit – Rutte
NATO leaders' promise to accept Ukraine into their ranks in the future will remain in force even if it is not mentioned in the communiqué following the alliance's next summit, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Monday.
Rutte said, speaking in London, that this path to NATO is irreversible. According to him, this assessment will not change after the summit.
He did not rule out that this topic will not be reflected in the communique following the NATO summit in the Netherlands. The NATO Secretary General assured that if this is not in the communique, then there will be nothing terrible about it. At the same time, he noted that in general, the topic related to Ukraine will probably be in the communique.
He stressed that NATO does not necessarily have to repeat its already known position on all issues at all summits.
Rutte recalled that there is currently no consensus in NATO regarding whether the time has come to accept Ukraine into the alliance.
The NATO summit will take place in The Hague on June 24-25.
In 2008, at the Bucharest summit, NATO allies promised that Ukraine would one day join the alliance.