First meeting of Ukraine-NATO Council takes place in Vilnius. PHOTOS

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Under the chairmanship of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the inaugural meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council takes place in Vilnius at the level of heads of state and government.

Censor.NET reports this with reference to Interfax-Ukraine.

"Welcome to this first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. This is truly a historic moment - Allies and Ukraine sitting side by side as equals to discuss our shared vision for Euro-Atlantic security. It is a great honour for me to welcome our dear friend, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. Volodymyr, welcome, it's great to have you with us," the NATO Secretary General said in opening the meeting.

These words were met with applause.

Stoltenberg also stressed that the allies should increase their support for Ukraine to help it "liberate its land and deter future Russian aggression". "At this summit, we reaffirmed that Ukraine will be a member of the Alliance. And we have taken decisions that will bring Ukraine closer to NATO. Today we meet as equals, and I look forward to the day when we meet as allies," he said.

At a large round table, Zelensky sits between Turkey and the UK. Ukraine is represented in alphabetical order.

As reported, the decision to establish the NATO-Ukraine Council, which replaced the NATO-Ukraine Commission, was formally approved by the heads of state and government of the Alliance on the first day of the summit.

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