Battle | Stoltenberg: “Ukraine will join NATO”

The NATO Secretary General sees Ukraine as part of the military alliance for the long term. A Russian special plane has been shot down. More information on the news blog.

5:17 PM: Demonstrators dumped two tons of manure in front of the house of the Russian ambassador to Poland. A bloody Russian flag with the letter Z on the dung heap in Warsaw. AZ is used to denote Russian military vehicles used by the military in invasion. The protesters also pasted a poster on the dung heap. It says: “Russia = shit! We don't want you in the EU! Out!”

4:51 pm: Union Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbach (Greens) visited Ukraine on the second anniversary of the Russian attack. Coming from the neighboring Republic of Moldova, Berbach arrived in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on the Black Sea on Saturday afternoon, where he visited strategically important port facilities, an AFP correspondent said. Beyrbach was accompanied by his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.

5:13 PM: Exactly two years after the start of the war in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed defense agreements with Canada and Italy. “Ukraine is definitely stronger today than two years ago,” writes Zelenskyj on Platform X. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Kyiv this morning to express their solidarity with Ukraine.

“Our meetings were always meaningful,” Zelensky writes of his conversations with Meloney. “We continue to guarantee our support for Ukraine,” Meloni insists. Italy's agreement with Ukraine is based on Ukraine's agreements with Germany and France.

Kiev has already signed several defense agreements with Western partners, including Paris and Berlin. On Friday, Zelenskyj and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen signed a related agreement. In addition to political support, the agreements provide military and financial assistance to Ukraine.

11:13 am: On the second anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed the country's entry into the alliance. “Ukraine will join NATO. It's not a question of if, but when,” Norway said in a video message on Saturday.

“As we prepare for this day, NATO will continue to stand by Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said. Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's goal of dominating Ukraine has not changed. The Russian president started this war because he wanted to close the door to NATO and deny Ukraine the right to choose its own path. But he accomplished the opposite.

NATO countries also stressed that Ukraine's future lies in the alliance. The NATO-Ukraine Council said in a statement on Saturday that it is working closely to support Ukraine's further integration with NATO in line with the results of the Vilnius summit.

10.35 am: EU Commission President Ursula van der Leyen handed over 50 vehicles to the Ukrainian National Police and Prosecutor's Office on the second anniversary of Russia's attack on Ukraine. “The white SUVs will help the authorities to secure the areas that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have bravely liberated from the illegal Russian occupation,” van der Leyen said on Saturday, according to the commission's statement.