Ukraine will become NATO's 33rd or 34th member "one day", Secretary General says

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stated that Ukraine will join the Alliance as its 33rd or 34th member in the future.

Source: Rutte, upon arriving at the NATO defence ministers' meeting in Brussels on 17 October, as reported by European Pravda

Rutte spoke the day after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented his Victory Plan, one of the points of which is securing an invitation to join NATO. Rutte refrained from saying whether Alliance members had become more supportive of extending such an invitation to Ukraine.

Quote: "At the moment, it seems that it will be Ukraine as number 33. But maybe somebody else pops in front of it. But Ukraine will be a member of NATO in the future. That is what we decided in Washington. So, the question is not about the timeline," said the NATO Secretary General.

He added that allies are currently focused on efforts that pave the way for Ukraine's membership.

"So, then the question is exactly about when, I cannot answer that now at that moment. But clearly, we are working on all these tracks to make sure that indeed one day it [Ukraine – ed.] will be member of NATO," Rutte added.

Background:

• Zelenskyy's Victory Plan consists of five points and is essentially a "plan to force Russia into peace."
• On 16 October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented his Victory Plan to the Verkhovna Rada, which consists of five points and three secret appendices. 
• Notably, the first point of the plan is an immediate invitation for Ukraine to join NATO.
• US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said that NATO did not plan to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance "in the short term", despite this being the first point of the Victory Plan put forward by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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