The Ukraine–NATO Council will hold an informal meeting in Sweden
An informal meeting of the Ukraine–NATO Council will take place next week in Sweden as part of the meeting of the Alliance’s foreign ministers. This is stated in NATO’s program of events.
This is indicated in the event program on the NATO website.
The meeting of NATO foreign ministers will take place on May 21–22 in Helsingborg, Sweden. On the evening of the first day, an official reception and an informal dinner of the Ukraine–NATO Council are scheduled to take place at the Sofiero Palace and Gardens.
It is noted that the dinner will be held behind closed doors with no press access. Journalists will only be able to follow the official broadcast on Swedish and NATO television.
The host of the dinner will be Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmér Stenergård. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Silvia, and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson are also expected to attend.
The reception will begin at 5:15 p.m. local time, followed by a group photo and remarks by the organizers.
The second day of the meeting will begin at 8:00 a.m. with brief statements at the media center, followed by the start of the North Atlantic Council meeting at the foreign ministers’ level at 10:00 a.m. A press conference by the NATO Secretary General is scheduled for 1:45 p.m.
The Ukraine-NATO Council is a format for strategic consultations between Ukraine and the Alliance, established following the 2023 Vilnius Summit. Unlike the previous commission, it has the authority to make decisions and allows Ukraine to initiate emergency meetings in the event of security threats.
The format involves participation at the level of heads of state, ministers, and military commanders.
Sweden officially joined NATO in March 2024, and this meeting will be the Alliance’s first ministerial event in the country since its full membership.
On the eve of the meeting, the Alliance’s mission in Ukraine expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people following a large-scale missile and drone attack carried out by the occupiers. The statement emphasizes that international assistance will continue in response to the aggressor’s attempts to destroy critical infrastructure. NATO representatives have officially pledged to continue providing support to Ukraine to protect the civilian population from hundreds of Russian air attack assets.
