AGERPRES special correspondent Florin Stefan reports: Romania's ambassador to NATO, Dan Neculaescu, declared on Friday for AGERPRES that at this moment it is difficult to estimate an end to the conflict in Ukraine, but that, as the general secretary of the Alliance and the allies said, the support will continue "until Ukraine emerges victorious from this fight".

Romania's ambassador to NATO stated that, initially, many scenarios estimated that the war "would have lasted much less and that Ukraine would have been defeated from the first days".

"Here we are one year later and Ukraine, including with the important support of allies, continues the struggle to liberate the national territory. At this moment, it is difficult to estimate an end to the conflict. One thing is certain, as well as the general secretary of NATO and the allies are determined and have declared: the support for Ukraine will last, it will continue, it will be consistent, it will continue to be multidimensional, including on the humanitarian, political and economic levels. You know very well that, I make a small parenthesis here, Romania has a very important role by facilitating grain transit on the territory of our country and through the Black Sea," Neculaescu also said on the day that marks one year since the start of the Russian invasion.

Asked what, in his opinion, are the chances of Ukraine joining NATO, Dan Neculaescu stated that the commitment expressed by the Allies for Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic path at the Bucharest Summit in 2008 "still stands".

"When the conditions are met, then Ukraine will join the Alliance. The Allies are currently focusing on the support we were telling you about, so that Ukraine can increase its resilience and be able to fight Russian aggression, and probably beyond this stage, we will also talk about Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration prospects. It is certain that, as we decided in 2008, the allied commitment is maintained," said the Romanian ambassador to NATO.

In the context in which, during the Bucharest 9 Summit in Warsaw this week, the leaders of the participating countries adopted a joint declaration requesting the further strengthening of the military presence in the countries on the Eastern Flank, Ambassador Neculaescu also spoke about the prospects of raising the NATO battle group in Romania from battalion to brigade level.

"First of all, I would like to emphasize in this context the importance of the Bucharest format, which you see meets at key moments and facilitates the allied consensus regarding the consolidation of the Eastern Flank. At this moment, according to the decisions from Madrid [Summit], all eight battle groups must be operational by the Vilnius Summit this summer, including ready to be elevated to brigade level," he said.

Dan Neculaescu added that "in the coming period we will assist the consolidation of the allied presence on our territory, in order to determine the achievement by the battle group of the degree of complete operationalization and, for sure, there will be exercises that will have the objective of testing its growth at brigade level".

"In conclusion, by the time of the Vilnius summit, according to the commitments we all made in Madrid, these battle groups will be fully operational and their testing for upgrading to brigade level will also be completed," Neculaescu also said. AGERPRES(RO - editor: Mariana Ionescu; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi, editor: Adina Panaitescu)