The permanent representative of the United States of America (USA) in NATO, Julian Smith, announced that Ukraine will be discussed at the Alliance Summit in July in Washington, and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected.
"We expect (Ukrainian) President Zelensky to join us personally, and the Alliance will announce additional forms of aid to Ukraine, political support, that is, you have already heard us talking about a bridge to membership. We are building a bridge to Ukraine's membership," said the American ambassador to NATO. in an interview with the MIA agency.
Smith emphasized that the US believes that most NATO member states are doing everything in their power to help and find ways to support Ukraine, some by providing humanitarian and economic aid, others by providing security support, and many by providing all three types of support. .
According to her, allies must be persistent and continue to find additional financial resources or capacities that can be sent to Ukraine.
"I feel a commitment within the Alliance that we have to keep going and we can't afford to stop because Ukraine needs our support and eventually they have to overcome and push Russia out of their territory," Smith said.
Regarding Hungary's request not to be included in the "new activity" that NATO is preparing to support Ukraine, the American ambassador at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels said that this had happened before, because not every member of the Pact participated in each of its missions in the past 75 years. or activities.
Julian Smith confirmed that the NATO heads of state or government will decide at the meeting in Washington who will be the new secretary general who will succeed the current holder of that duty, Jens Stoltenberg.
"Stoltenberg has served the Alliance admirably for 10 years and now the Alliance is ready to salute him and celebrate his contribution, as well as to welcome the new Secretary General," Smith said.
She added that the NATO Summit in July in Washington will be, above all, a celebration of 75 years of work by partners on both sides of the Atlantic, but a number of topics will also be discussed, including burden sharing and the fact that many countries have been working hard in the last decade. worked to increase defense spending.
"Here I really want to thank North Macedonia. It made really difficult decisions to reach the threshold of two percent of GDP for defense. North Macedonia is now above the census, above two percent, and we welcome those efforts and all countries that have done so ", said the permanent representative of the USA in NATO, Julian Smith.
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