In an unannounced trip to Ukraine's capital Thursday, the new NATO secretary general reiterated the alliance's pledge to continue bolstering military and financial support for Ukraine.
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00:00NATO's new Secretary-General Mark Rutte has made a surprise visit to Ukraine, his first
00:06official trip since he took office on Tuesday.
00:12Rutte held a joint press conference with President Zelensky in Kiev, during which he stressed
00:17the urgency of increased military and financial assistance to the war-torn country.
00:23We know the need is urgent, and we are working hard to do more and more quickly.
00:30In the last few weeks, several Allies announced further military aid for Ukraine, including
00:36new contributions from Denmark, from Latvia, the United Kingdom, and nearly $8 billion
00:44of assistance from the United States.
00:48Supporting Ukraine and replenishing our own stocks means increasing industrial production,
00:55and that will be a priority for me.
00:58The NATO chief also announced a new command to coordinate security assistance and training
01:03and to advance Ukraine's NATO membership, which he says is closer than ever.
01:09Meanwhile, Zelensky confirmed Ukraine's readiness to join the alliance.
01:15Ukraine can become the 33rd country of NATO.
01:18Ukrainians deserve this, in our opinion.
01:21And today we discussed in detail the prospects of cooperation, the key guidelines that can
01:27strengthen us, Ukraine, the alliance, can strengthen our cooperation.
01:32Zelensky also said he discussed elements of Ukraine's so-called victory plan with Rutte
01:38before a NATO meeting at the German Rammstein airbase next week.
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