NATO plans to increase its presence in Ukraine next year
Photo: Head of the NATO Representation to Ukraine Patrick Turner (Getty Images)
NATO plans to strengthen its presence in Ukraine. This will happen next year, the head of the NATO Representation to Ukraine, Patrick Turner, says in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“You know that NATO has been present here in one form or another for 26 years. It has been in different forms: The Liaison Office, and the Information and Documentation Center, but now we are a NATO Representation. This year, NATO's presence here has tripled, and we plan to strengthen it even more next year,” he said.
Turner added that this is in line with some of the decisions made at the NATO Washington Summit this summer, but also some decisions made earlier. According to him, this presence is intended to represent NATO Headquarters in its entirety and to be a link between the headquarters and Ukraine.
He noted that the Representative Office currently employs approximately 50 people. In 2025, another 20 people may be added, a mixture of Ukrainians and foreigners.
Turner also emphasized that the NATO office in Ukraine is headed by an assistant secretary general. This is the first such case in the history of the Alliance.
Ukraine's path to NATO
Amid Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine submitted an official application for NATO membership, a significant step in Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration.
However, the Alliance has not yet taken the step of extending an official invitation to join. NATO emphasizes that the door is open for Ukraine, but membership is not possible during the war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasizes that inviting Ukraine to NATO would be a security guarantee to deter Russia in the future. This is one of the key points of the victory plan developed by Ukraine.
