NATO chief, Ukraine's president discuss upcoming alliance summit in Washington

By Nur Asena Erturk

The NATO secretary general and Ukraine’s president met on Thursday to discuss the alliance’s summit next month in Washington, according to a statement.

During a meeting in Brussels, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed “final preparations” for the July 9-11 Washington summit where “increasing support to Ukraine will be a top priority for Allied leaders,” according to a NATO statement.

“I think we are really on track to a very good NATO Summit for Ukraine and for NATO,” Stoltenberg reportedly said.

He also voiced his expectations that allied countries would “agree for NATO to take the lead in coordination and provision of security assistance and training for Ukraine.”

Stoltenberg “proposed a long-term financial pledge to give Ukraine more predictability in the support they receive,” the statement read.

The alliance chief congratulated the president “on the signing of an EU-Ukraine security agreement and the start of EU accession talks this week.”

The summit will likely be Stoltenberg’s last for the alliance, as his successor Mark Rutte is due to take office this fall.

Rutte, the outgoing Dutch prime minister, also reportedly has an assertive stance on aid to Ukraine, well over two years into Russia’s war on its soil.