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Deputy Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Mircea Joane, has confirmed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to the alliance’s summit in Madrid.
The conference will be held in Madrid, Spain on June 28 and 29, according to The Kyiv Independent.
The Pacific NATO members – Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea – would attend the meeting for the first time, Joane said in an official statement.
Of course, NATO enlargement and an open-door policy will be major topics of discussion. We are hoping that Finland and Sweden will join us. And, of course, we must make a decision on Ukraine. In whatever capacity, President Volodymyr Zelensky will be present at our meeting. Mircea Joane added, “in Madrid.”
Zelensky’s presence in the summit was announced, according to local media, during a Politico-organized discussion.
Earlier in the day, Europa Press reported that Spain planned to send Zelensky an official invitation to the summit in Madrid on June 29 and 30. However, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has indicated that he does not expect favourable decisions for Ukraine during the NATO conference.
Furthermore, the NATO Defense Ministers will meet in Brussels on June 15-16, according to the alliance, who have invited the EU, Georgia, Finland, Sweden, and Ukraine to attend.
The meeting will begin with a working dinner, which will be chaired by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and will be attended by Finland, Georgia, Sweden, Ukraine, and the European Union.
Russia launched a military intervention in Ukraine on February 24, in response to appeals for assistance from the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in fighting Ukrainian troop aggression.
According to UN estimates, about 14 million Ukrainians have been forced to evacuate their homes as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with the majority of those displaced being women and children.
The conflict has left 15.7 million Ukrainians in need of humanitarian assistance, with some lacking access to clean water and electricity.
