Joint press statements by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Mr. Dmytro Kuleba as part of the two-day North Atlantic Council visit to Ukraine.
Transcript
[Announcer] Dear media, we are beginning the statements of the Secretary General of NATO and the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba. There will be a translation interpretation provided from Ukrainian to English, English Ukrainian. So after these statements, we will have a few questions from the media.
Good afternoon. Today, I’m extremely happy to welcome in Odessa the delegation of the North Atlantic Council led by Secretary General of NATO, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg. Today there is no more important task than the development of Ukraine’s economy, armed forces, and democracy. We have invited NATO to Odessa today, to the new capital of Ukraine’s navy, to make a special emphasis on this fact. Today we are also focusing on the general situation in the Black Sea, which is of utmost importance both for Ukraine and the North Atlantic alliance. I represent here the government which has clearly defined Euro-Atlantic integration in its action program as one of its top priorities. We have set before ourselves a very ambitious goal of meeting all the principals, requirements, and standards necessary for NATO membership within five years. And this is not just the wish of the government. If you take a look at the public opinion surveys in Ukraine, you will see a steady pattern that the support for Euro-Atlantic integration of NATO in the public is steadily growing. We’re not talking about a spontaneous reaction of Ukrainians to Russia’s aggression, but about a conscious decision. Ukraine have made its choice to be a member of NATO. The alliance also made its choice when, in 2008, in its declaration of the Bucharest summit, NATO said that Ukraine will become a member of NATO. We proceed from the premise that this decision will be fulfilled, and that Ukraine and NATO will cover this path together. As I’ve already said, today we are in the city of Odessa, which is the capital city of Ukraine’s navy, and yesterday I visited the island-type patrol boats Sloviansk and Starobilsk, which in the near future are going to be deployed for patrol duty, and they were provided to us by the United States. Further development of Ukraine’s naval capabilities will be one of our priorities in cooperation with the alliance, and we’re extremely grateful to the North Atlantic alliance for all the support that has been provided to Ukraine ever since Russia’s aggression against Ukraine started. It’s only together that we can ensure the security of the Black Sea, that we can ensure the development of Ukraine, and its further progress on the way of democracy. I’m confident that our partnership with NATO will continue and will be increasingly dynamic. We need each other, and with these words I would like to once again thank the North Atlantic Council for their visit to Ukraine.
Thank you so much, Deputy Prime Minister Kuleba. It’s a great honor and pleasure to be back in Ukraine, and to visit this beautiful city of Odessa. Knowing that this is the capital of the Ukrainian navy makes it even more important for me and the North Atlantic Council to be here today. And I also welcome the fact that I am here together with the whole North Atlantic Council, ambassadors representing the 29 members of the alliance, and North Macedonia, that will soon become our 30th member. And the visit today sends a clear message that NATO stands in solidarity with Ukraine. We support your sovereignty and your territorial integrity, and we will provide, and we are providing, both political and practical support. We support your efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. And we provide practical support to help you implement reforms and modernize your, modernizing your defense and security institutions. We help you with command and control, with cyber, with logistics, and later on today, we’ll