Ukraine will join NATO in the future and become the 33rd or 34th member of the Alliance. This was stated by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on October 17, Radio Svoboda reports.
Answering a question about Zelenskyy’s call for Kyiv to be invited to join NATO, Rutte called Ukraine’s path to the alliance irreversible.
Thus, in the future, NATO will have Ukraine as its 33rd or 34th member. At the moment, it looks like Ukraine will be the 33rd, – he said.
The head of the alliance also suggested that, theoretically, Ukraine could be overtaken by another country. Officially, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a candidate for NATO membership, but Ukraine and Georgia have also been promised membership in the alliance in the future without specific dates.
If there is a specific question “When?”, I cannot answer it now, at this moment, – Mark Rutte added.
He also noted that the allies are now working to build a “bridge” to Ukraine’s accession to NATO.
Rutte is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels today. This will be their third meeting since the beginning of the month. Earlier today, Zelenskyy presented a plan to win the EU leaders’ summit.
