Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), has once again said that granting NATO membership to Ukraine during full-scale war with Russia is not realistic.

The NATO Secretary-General has stated at the Brussels Forum by the German Marshall Fund that all alliance members agree on Ukraine's future membership, which was declared at the 2008 Bucharest summit and has been "repeated on multiple occasions" since then.

Stoltenberg acknowledges that "on that issue (Ukraine's membership – ed.) there are different views in the alliance and of course the only way to make decisions in NATO is by consensus."

"There are consultations underway on the way forward and how to satisfy Ukraine's aspirations for NATO membership. No one is able to tell you exactly what will be the final decision at the Vilnius summit on this issue," he added.

Stoltenberg points out that NATO is currently focused on "ensuring Ukraine's victory as a sovereign and independent state because if Ukraine does not succeed, there is nothing to discuss."

"The ultimate security guarantee will be NATO membership, but...to become a member in the midst of a war, is not on the agenda," he said.

At the same time, the NATO Secretary-General underlines that Ukraine becomes closer to the Alliance in times of war as it adopts Western doctrines and management standards, as well as transitions to Western weaponry.

Following the summit of Ukraine and the Nordic countries, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine should become the next member of the Alliance (Ukr) right after Sweden.