“This meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs inspires hope that the Alliance will be able to agree on a path to Ukraine’s membership. Ukraine’s ambition is clear. It is to join NATO when conditions allow. It is the duty of all of us to apply the most appropriate political instruments to help Ukraine step on a clear path to NATO membership already in 2008,” Landsbergis said after the meeting.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who attended the NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting, reiterated that Ukraine’s ambition was to join NATO. Kuleba also expressed hope that the NATO summit in Vilnius would identify steps to bring Ukraine closer to accession.
In addition, Landsbergis met with General Christopher G. Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
“As the Vilnius NATO summit is approaching, together with the General, we agreed that Russia remained a long-term threat to Lithuania and the Alliance. Thus, a comprehensive set of measures is needed to counter it,” Landsbergis said.
During the Allied Session, which Sweden also attended, NATO foreign ministers discussed the objectives of NATO’s upcoming summit in Vilnius, the Alliance’s long-term practical and political support for Ukraine, the progress in implementing the decisions made during the NATO summit in Madrid and China’s challenges to globals democracy.
During the session with Indo-Pacific partners and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, foreign ministers discussed threats posed by Russia and China and the necessary steps to boost the Alliance’s and its allies’ capabilities to counter these threats.
It was the first meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs with the participation of Finland as a full-fledged member of the Alliance.