When asked by CNN journalists whether he believes the war will end by next summer, the Minister of Defense, Oleksiy Reznikov, confidently replied, “Yes. We will win this war.”
Reznikov also noted that the summit in Washington in July 2024 will be a jubilee as NATO celebrates its 75th anniversary.
“Who knows, perhaps it will be a very important day for Ukraine… Although this is just my forecast,” the minister said.
Reznikov acknowledges that Ukraine will be able to join the Alliance only after the end of the war, under Article 5 of the NATO Charter, and because until then, there is no possibility of obtaining unanimous support.
In response to journalists’ question of whether he believes the war will end by next summer, Reznikov quickly replied, “Yes. We will win this war.”
Reznikov believes that the refusal of the U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to commit to accepting Ukraine into NATO immediately after the end of the war will not be a significant obstacle. He stated that “there will be an orderly procedure for Ukraine’s accession, and the country will continue to work on the necessary reforms.”
According to him, Ukraine has gained “real combat experience – how to restrain and defeat the Russians, using standard NATO weaponry.”
“After the victory, this (Ukraine’s accession) will be beneficial for NATO because we have become a true Eastern shield of NATO or Eastern shield of Europe,” he added.
On July 20, the Ministry of Defense stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have implemented more NATO standards than some member countries of the Alliance.