NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg affirmed on Tuesday that Georgia and Ukraine will eventually join the alliance, speaking at an online event hosted by the Brookings Institution and Georgetown University.

"I think it is obvious that this will not happen tomorrow, but they will join. So my message to NATO allies, and what we talked about yesterday with US President Joe Biden, is this: we need to step up our efforts and do more for these countries wishing to join," Stoltenberg said and reiterated that other countries such as Russia should not influence their desire to do so.

The secretary general also stated that the "alliance is in the midst of a fundamental shift" which "started in 2014, in response to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea."