Stoltenberg promised that NATO would send a clear message at its next summit: “We are ready to accept Ukraine.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that the bloc would send a clear message about its decision to accept Ukraine as part of the alliance.

“We are going to send a strong message of our support and solidarity with Ukraine. I will be clear about what Ukraine’s future lies in NATOStoltenberg said.

NATO defense ministers will hold the last allies’ ministerial meetings on Thursday and Friday before their July 11 and 12 summit in Vilnius, where they will continue to prepare to strengthen their deterrence and defense programs and increase support for Ukraine.

Before starting the meeting, allies will participate in a new version of the US-led Contact Group of more than 50 countries to arm Ukraine to defend itself against Russia.

“It’s still early, we don’t know if this will be a turning point in the war, but we see the Ukrainians advancing and liberating more ground.”, Stoltenberg confirmed at a press conference ahead of the ministerial appointment.

As he put it, continuing to support Ukraine means that it will eventually come to the negotiating table with more force to achieve a “just peace.”

The ministerial meeting will begin in the afternoon with a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, a forum the allies plan to transform into a council format where all parties participate on an equal footing to raise the level of relations with Ukraine.

Kyiv’s Western backers will meet at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Thursday to receive an update from Ukraine’s defense minister on the progress of the attacks.

“The most obvious thing is to make sure they have the weapons, supplies, and maintenance to continue the offensive.Stoltenberg told reporters.

Before participating in this meeting, the ministers will attend an informal meeting with representatives of the Transatlantic Defense Department, the first of these characteristics organized by NATO and which has caused discomfort in Spain since none of its institutions were invited.

For this reason, the branch’s Spanish minister, Daisy Robleswill not participate in the appointment, in which they will Ukraine and the European Union.

“It’s a relatively small select group (of companies) and certainly not many partners are represented there. This is how these events should be, they should be very small,” Stoltenberg explained today.

The idea is that coalition ministers can “talk directly to industry on the best way to increase productivity, protect our supply chains and remove barriers to collaboration”.

Stoltenberg hoped defense ministers would review the meeting at a meeting in Brussels “A New Defense Production Action Plan”Allied leaders will agree at a NATO summit in Vilnius.

Its purpose is to “quickly address stockpile shortages” of ammunition and weapons from allied countries that have provided Ukraine with significant portions of their defense supplies.

That action plan will build on the $1 billion alliance members will use to jointly procure 155mm ammunition this year. NATO Support and Procurement Agency.

Allies have completed a review of national munitions capability targets, and ministers are expected to increase those targets significantly.

Another aspect ministers will discuss on Friday is strengthening the alliance’s defense and deterrence posture, including new regional plans expected to see the light of day at the summit.

These are projects dependent on three joint headquarters in Norfolk (USA), Brunssum (Netherlands) and Naples (Italy) that geographically distribute the defense of the entire alliance.

The regional plans call for the adaptation of NATO’s command and control mechanisms and a new force structure for the alliance, which seeks to keep 300,000 soldiers on high alert backed by substantial air and naval power.

Diplomatic sources indicated that the allies are expected to indicate their contribution to this reinforcement in the coming days.

Among the alliance’s eastern reinforcements, Spain is expected to become the framework nation for one of the new regiments. Slovakia, Hungary, Romania or BulgariaDiplomatic sources have indicated.

Relations with Ukraine will be another key topic at a summit of leaders of Lithuanian allies, where they hope to finalize a new multi-year non-lethal aid package and an ambitious statement on its future. The system is one that is discarded as the war drags on.

Another decision of this ministry was the agreement to create a new NATO maritime center for the protection of critical submarine infrastructures within MARCOM. Alliance Maritime Command in the United KingdomStoltenberg said.

Regarding Sweden’s entry into the alliance, which Turkey and Hungary have not yet ratified, Stoltenberg said that work was continuing for the Nordic country to join the alliance “as soon as possible”, but did not want to give exact information on a calendar. About when admission will take place.

He acknowledged that Stockholm’s entry to the summit was still possible, but admitted that “he cannot guarantee it.”

(with information from EFE)

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