On the eve of next week's NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told FRANCE 24 he was confident an agreement could be forged to bring Ukraine closer to NATO. In addition to providing practical support and creating a Ukraine-NATO council, he said that a text was being drafted to chart a way forward for Ukraine's future membership in the Atlantic Alliance.
Stoltenberg also stressed that despite claims to the contrary, Ukraine is making progress on the battlefield. He said Western countries were stepping up their weapons deliveries, pointing to the delivery of long-range missiles by the UK, which "is making a difference". He noted that that the training of Ukrainian pilots on F16 fighter jets had begun. While he refused to predict a Ukrainian victory in the coming months, he stated that "Ukraine has the equipment, the training, the ammunition" needed and that NATO is committed to supplying them.
The NATO chief condemned Russia's announcement that it would deploy short-range nuclear weapons to Belarus as "irresponsible nuclear rhetoric". While both the Russian and Belarusian presidents have said that the weapons had begun arriving in Belarus, he noted that NATO hadn't seen any such deployment, only preparations. He added that no change had been detected in the Russian nuclear posture and, as such, NATO had not been required to change its own nuclear posture. With regards to the Wagner mercenary group, he said he hadn't seen large units relocate to Belarus. Asked about the whereabouts of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, he said "we have intelligence" but that it would not be appropriate for him to share it publicly.
As for Sweden's NATO membership bid, which is being held up by Turkey, Stoltenberg said there had been "progress" in recent talks he hosted at NATO between both sides and that he would convene a meeting of the leaders of both countries in Vilnius. However, he stressed that there was "no certainty" that this would be enough to break the deadlock. He said that Sweden had delivered on its pledge to toughen its anti-terrorism laws and that it was "time to ratify its membership".
