NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that it is impossible to speed up the procedure for the admission of Ukraine. According to the regulations, the decision must be taken unanimously by all members of the North Atlantic Alliance.
“The decision on membership is made upon reaching a consensus among all 30 members. Our goal now is to provide urgent assistance to Ukraine to help it defend itself. Now this is the main task of the alliance,” Stoltenberg said.
According to him, NATO is ready to continue to support Kyiv for as long as it takes. Stoltenberg repeated that NATO “supports the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine”, NATO countries do not recognize the results of “referendums” on the annexation of Ukrainian territories to Russia and condemn the annexation of these regions.
On September 30, after the annexation of the “LPR” and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions by Russia, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Kiev would apply to join NATO in an expedited manner. According to him, the Ukrainian authorities proved to the alliance that the country meets its standards.
“De facto, we have already gone our way into NATO,” Zelensky said. — De facto, we have already proven compatibility with the standards of the North Atlantic Alliance. They are real for Ukraine – real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our interaction. We trust each other, we help each other, and we protect each other. This is the North Atlantic Alliance. De facto. Today Ukraine is applying to do it de jure. By a procedure that will be consistent with our value for the protection of our entire community. On an expedited basis. We are taking our defining step by signing Ukraine's application for accelerated accession to NATO."
On September 30, Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the accession to Russia of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as the so-called LPR and DPR. The signing was preceded by the recognition by the Russian authorities of the "independence" of the Kherson region, although the occupying authorities did not proclaim it. The corresponding decree was signed by Putin on September 29. The annexation was also preceded by a four-day “referendum”, as a result of which Russian state media reported: in the “DPR” 99.23% voted for joining, in the “LPR” – 98.42%, in the Kherson region – 87%, in Zaporozhye – 93, 11% of the inhabitants. The Federation Council will have to ratify the signed treaties.