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Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general, said on Thursday that Ukraine’s “rightful place” was in the Atlantic alliance as he visited Kyiv for the first time since the Russian invasion nearly 14 months ago.
Mr. Stoltenberg’s visit was not announced in advance, a practice that, due to security concerns, most high-ranking international officials make trips to Ukraine. The trip is seen as a show of support for Ukraine as the country’s military prepares for an anticipated counterattack against Russia.
“I am here today with a simple message: NATO stands with Ukraine,” Mr Stoltenberg said at a joint press conference with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, after the pair spoke. Mr Stoltenberg said the issue of Ukraine’s NATO membership would be “at the top of the agenda” at a NATO summit in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, in July.
“Let’s be clear: Ukraine’s rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic family. Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO, and over time, our support will help you do this,” said Mr. Stoltenberg, who was pictured honoring fallen soldiers at the Memorial Wall , memorial in Kyiv, Thursday.
Mr. Stoltenberg said in February that Ukraine “will be a member of our alliance” but it is a “long-term” prospect.
Mr Zelensky, who has been invited to attend the NATO summit in Vilnius, said it was important that Ukraine was invited to join the alliance.
“There are no objective obstacles to the political decision to invite Ukraine to the alliance,” Mr. Zelensky said.
Ukraine is not a NATO member, but the alliance has helped coordinate Kyiv’s requests for non-lethal aid and support humanitarian aid shipments. Some NATO members, such as the United States, are the largest providers of military aid to Ukraine.
There is division among NATO countries over whether Ukraine should be offered a detailed “road map” to members at the Vilnius summit.
Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told reporters on Thursday that “definitely” one of the goals of Russia’s invasion was still to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.
“Otherwise, it will be a serious threat to our country and its security,” he said.
Mr Stoltenberg’s trip comes a day before US-led talks at Ramstein Air Base in Germany with top defense officials from more than 40 countries, a collective known as the Ukraine Contact Group. Many of these countries are members of NATO. The group has met regularly at the base in the past year to discuss and coordinate military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
The talks are likely to focus on plans to send more weapons to Kyiv, which has said for months that its forces are running low on ammunition and using up artillery faster than allies can produce and supply them. The claim is backed by leaked American intelligence documents that began circulating this month.
At a press conference on Thursday, Mr Zelensky said he had asked Mr Stoltenberg for help to “overcome the reluctance” of some countries to provide advanced weapons to Ukraine.
Ukraine is ready for an expected counteroffensive that can try to drive a wedge through the territory occupied by Russia along the southern coast of the Black Sea and Azov, near Crimea, or look to push Russian forces back in the eastern region of Donbas – or both.
As part of his trip to Ukraine, Mr. Stoltenberg visited Bucha, a town north of Kyiv where dozens of civilians were brutally killed by Russian soldiers last year. Mr Stoltenberg said he was “deeply moved” by what he saw there.
Carly Olson and Ivan Nechepurenko contribute reports.
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