Stoltenberg believes that Ukraine can become a NATO member even before victory

Ukraine may join the North Atlantic Alliance even before defeating the enemy, being in a "non-integrated" state, former North Atlantic Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the Financial Times. This was stated by former North Atlantic Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in an interview with the Financial Times.

Ukraine can become a member of the North Atlantic alliance even without complete de-occupation of its territories," he said.

At the same time, he noted that NATO can guarantee Ukraine's collective responsibility in the security issue, but taking into account that the guarantees do not cover the entire territory of the country.

It is always very dangerous to compare, because no parallels are 100 per cent correct, but the United States has security guarantees for Japan. But they don't apply to the Kuril Islands, which Japan considers Japanese territory, but they are currently controlled by Russia," Stoltenberg pointed out.

He also recalled Germany when it was divided east and west and when the West considered the FRG as one country, temporarily divided.

But NATO, of course, only defended West Germany," he pointed out.

The former NATO secretary-general added that it was possible to find a compromise on Ukraine's membership in NATO. In his opinion, the West and Kiev should define a clear border to which Article 5 will be applied.

But Ukraine should control the entire territory up to this border," he stressed.

According to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, NATO is an organisation designed to protect its members from attack or threat of attack and to this end is based on the principle that an attack on one of its members is considered an attack on all its members.

We shall remind you that NATO members decided to set up a new NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU). on 17 July, NATO's special representative to Ukraine, Patrick Turner, was appointed. His task is to coordinate NATO's interaction with the Ukrainian authorities, as well as to coordinate NATO's efforts and provide the Alliance with assessments and advice on the situation in Ukraine.

Ukraine has applied for NATO membership in September 2022, but Kiev has not yet received an official invitation to join the alliance.