NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said Ukraine will become a member of the alliance in the "long term," but stressed that the immediate issue is it remaining independent in the face of Russia's invasion. Stoltenberg told reporters during a visit to Finland's capital, Helsinki, on February 28 that "the issue now is that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation, and therefore we need to support Ukraine." After Russia's invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the U.S.-led military alliance to grant his country fast-track membership.
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