Agreement on Ukraine's NATO Membership Not Expected at Washington Summit in July - Stoltenberg

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - An agreement on Ukraine's membership in NATO is not expected at the alliance's summit in Washington this summer, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.

"Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO and therefore I am working hard to ensure that Ukraine will become a member of this alliance. To have that decision, we need all allies to agree, we need consensus, we do not need a majority but actually 32 allies to agree. I do not except that we will have that agreement by the summit in July," Stoltenberg said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev.

NATO countries should consider transferring weapons to Ukraine as a priority, Jens Stoltenberg said.

"I have been clear that if allies face a choice between meeting NATO capability targets or supporting Ukraine, they should support Ukraine and put plans in place to refill their stockpiles," Stoltenberg said.

Serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield for months, the alliance head said.

"The US was unable to agree at a package and European allies have been unable to deliver ammunition at the scale we promised. Ukraine has been outgunned for months," he added.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is in Kiev on an unannounced visit and will give a joint press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky, alliance spokeswoman Farah Dakhlallah said on Monday.