Vilnius, 12 July 2023 (MIA) – NATO is a regional Alliance between Europe and North America but the challenges we face are global and our security is interconnected, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at Wednesday's meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Heads of State and Government, with Sweden, Indo-Pacific Partners and the EU.

In the opening remarks at the meeting held as part of the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Stoltenberg welcomed partners Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, as well as the European Union. 

"What happens in the Euro-Atlantic region matters for the Indo-Pacific, and what happens in the Indo-Pacific matters to the Euro-Atlantic," said Stoltenberg. 

The NATO Secretary General pointed out that the war in Ukraine has global ramifications, and terrorist and cyber-threats know no borders.

"Authoritarian regimes are coming closer together. So we must stand together for the rules-based international order," Stoltenberg said. 

A joint press conference following a bilateral meeting by the NATO Secretary General and the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, is scheduled for Wednesday, with an inaugural meeting later to establish the NATO-Ukraine Council as part of the package of three elements with more practical support in terms of moving Ukraine closer to NATO. 

Zelensky said earlier on Wednesday that three priorities are on the agenda of the second day of the Summit in Vilnius, including military aid to support Ukrainian troops on the battlefield, and an invitation to NATO. 

"We need your understanding that we have this invitation for when the security situation allows it," said Zelensky. 

The Ukrainian President on Tuesday accused NATO allies of being "absurd" for the uncertainty surrounding his country's relationship with the Alliance. 

"It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the alliance," Zelensky tweeted.

A package of three elements was agreed with more practical support in terms of moving Ukraine closer to NATO, with a multi-year program to ensure full interoperability between the Ukrainian forces and the NATO forces, establishing the NATO-Ukraine Council, and removing the requirement for Membership Action Plan, thus turning the membership process for Ukraine from a two-step process into a one-step process. 

Allies sent a clear message of support for Ukraine's NATO membership, but Ukraine will be invited to join when conditions are met. Such lack of timeline was criticized by Zelensky. 

The NATO Secretary General said the most imminent task now is to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation in Europe, "so the most important thing we can do is to continue to provide weapons, ammunition, military support to Ukraine because unless Ukraine prevails as a democratic nation in Europe, there is no issue to be discussed about security guarantees or membership in NATO at all". 

U.S. President Joe Biden said Tuesday he has agreed on the language proposed by NATO in terms of Ukraine being able to join the Alliance. 

"We agree on the language that we proposed, and you proposed, relative to the future of Ukraine being able to join NATO," Biden said in brief remarks alongside NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg at the Summit.