Stoltenberg believes that Ukraine can be accepted into NATO with occupied territories: "When there is will, there are ways to find solution"
Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes that a scenario in which Ukraine becomes a member of the Alliance, but not all of its territories are de-occupied, is realistic.
He said this in an interview with the Financial Times, Censor.NET reports citing European Pravda.
The former NATO Secretary General believes that there are ways to solve the problem of applying Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on Collective Security in the case of Ukraine, if it becomes a member of the Alliance with occupied territories.
"It is always very dangerous to compare because no parallels are 100% correct, but the United States has security guarantees for Japan. But they do not apply to the Kuril Islands, which Japan considers to be Japanese territory controlled by Russia," he said.
Another example Stoltenberg cited was West Germany, which considered East Germany to be part of a larger Germany: "They didn't have an embassy in East Berlin. But NATO, of course, only defended West Germany."
"When there is a will, there are ways to find a solution. But there needs to be a border that defines where Article 5 applies, and Ukraine should control all the territory up to that border," the former Secretary General added.
Even before the end of his term, Stoltenberg said that the decision on any future membership of Ukraine in the Alliance-including the occupied territories-should be made by all allies.
