North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told the Financial Times (FT) in statements published on Monday that Ukraine is much closer to membership in the alliance now than in 2008 when it first expressed a wish to join it.
"What I believe is that Ukraine will become a member of this alliance and that Ukraine's rightful place is in NATO," he said, commenting on the timeline of the conflict-hit country's process of joining the alliance. "It's for allies to decide when the time is right. ... Of course, there are different ideas, different proposals on the table, as it always is when important issues are discussed."
Stoltenberg previously stated that NATO will form and present a unified stance on Ukraine's military future at the alliance's upcoming summit, which will take place in Vilnius on July 11 and 12.