NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg holds a press conference during a NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuanian July 11, 2023. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
VILNIUS (Reuters) -NATO will extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the military alliance when "members agree and conditions are met", Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference on Tuesday.
Stoltenberg's comments reflected the language in a communique issued by NATO leaders on Tuesday at a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier in the day it would be "absurd" if NATO leaders did not offer his country a timeframe for membership.
Asked about Zelenskiy's criticism, Stoltenberg said: "There has never been a stronger message from NATO at any time, both when it comes to the political message of the path forward for membership and the concrete support from NATO allies."
He said previous accessions to the alliance had not been accompanied by a timeline.
"If you look at all the membership processes, there have not been timelines for those processes. They are conditions-based, have always been."
(Reporting by Andrew Gray, writing by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Rosalba O'Brien)
