NATO chief reaffirms Ukraine's 'irreversible' path to membership ahead of key summit

On the eve of a two-day NATO summit, the alliance chief on Monday reaffirmed that Ukraine's path to NATO membership, declared "irreversible" at last year's summit in Washington, remains unchanged.

"Last year in Washington, NATO allies agreed that for Ukraine there is an irreversible path of Ukraine to enter NATO. And that is still true today, and it will still be true on Thursday after this summit," Secretary General Mark Rutte told a press conference in The Hague ahead of the summit, set to start Tuesday.

Rutte said the alliance is meeting at a "historic moment" amid a deteriorating security environment. "As the world grows more dangerous, allied leaders will take bold decisions to strengthen our collective defense, making NATO a stronger, a fairer, and a more lethal alliance," he said.

He said NATO allies have made "crucial progress" in the last six months but stressed that "the threats we face today demand far, far more" to ensure deterrence.

"Allies have agreed an ambitious new set of capability targets, specific principle requirements that ensure that we can implement our investment," he added.

Addressing the Iran issue just days after the US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities, the NATO chief reaffirmed the alliance's long-standing position against nuclear proliferation.

"Allies have long agreed that Iran must not develop a nuclear weapon. Allies have repeatedly urged Iran to meet its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty," he said.

"My biggest fear would be for Iran to own and be able to deploy a nuclear weapon. That would be a stranglehold on Israel, the region, and beyond," Rutte added.

Asked if the US attacks on Iran constitute a breach of international law, Rutte said he "completely disagrees" with this idea, rejecting the notion that recent US actions in the region broke international law.

When asked about Spain's flexibility in meeting defense spending targets of 5% of GDP, he said all allies agreed to the capability targets set by defense ministers and expressed confidence in Spain's contribution.

The NATO summit in The Hague is expected to focus on collective defense, new capability goals, and long-term support for Ukraine.