03:58Romania: NATO membership off the table 'if Ukraine fails to prevail' - Stoltenberg
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine's main task now was to safeguard its independence if it had ambitions of joining the alliance, while speaking during a press conference on the second day of the NATO North Atlantic Council (NAC) meeting on Wednesday.
"If Ukraine does not assert itself as an independent sovereign state, then the question of (NATO) membership, of course, will not arise at all," Stoltenberg told reporters following the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest.
Reiterating the organisation's support for Ukraine, Stoltenberg said the alliance's foreign ministers had agreed to keep providing military equipment- particularly air defence systems, and economic, political and humanitarian support.
The NATO chief also commented on how to back aspiring members already subjected to what he called 'Russian pressure and influence', such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova.
"It is much better to support them now than when we are seeing developments going in absolutely the wrong direction as we saw with the invasion of Ukraine earlier this year," Stoltenberg said.
The foreign ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova attended the closing session of the ministerial meeting. NATO allies agreed to provide increased support to these three partners, including capacity building, reforms and training to improve their security and defence institutions.
03:58Mandatory credit: NATO TV
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine's main task now was to safeguard its independence if it had ambitions of joining the alliance, while speaking during a press conference on the second day of the NATO North Atlantic Council (NAC) meeting on Wednesday.
"If Ukraine does not assert itself as an independent sovereign state, then the question of (NATO) membership, of course, will not arise at all," Stoltenberg told reporters following the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest.
Reiterating the organisation's support for Ukraine, Stoltenberg said the alliance's foreign ministers had agreed to keep providing military equipment- particularly air defence systems, and economic, political and humanitarian support.
The NATO chief also commented on how to back aspiring members already subjected to what he called 'Russian pressure and influence', such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova.
"It is much better to support them now than when we are seeing developments going in absolutely the wrong direction as we saw with the invasion of Ukraine earlier this year," Stoltenberg said.
The foreign ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova attended the closing session of the ministerial meeting. NATO allies agreed to provide increased support to these three partners, including capacity building, reforms and training to improve their security and defence institutions.