Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Rob Bauer is confident that Ukraine will become a member of the Alliance.

"Together, we are putting everything into place to make Ukraine a member of our Alliance. The Swedish flag will not be the only blue and yellow flag at the NATO headquarters. Why? Because we all believe in the power of democracy. That is what is at stake here," Bauer said during the 16th annual Kyiv Security Forum, founded by Arseniy Yatsenyuk's Open Ukraine Foundation.

Bauer emphasized that Russia's war against Ukraine was never associated with a real security threat emanating from Ukraine or NATO.

"This war is about President Putin fearing something much more powerful than any physical weapon on earth: democracy. If people in Ukraine can have democratic rights… real democratic rights… then people in Russia will soon crave them too," he said.

The head of NATO's military committee noted that in 2024, more than 2 billion people on Earth will take part in democratic elections, and yet today the concept of democracy needs to be defended more than ever.

"In Russia… there is no choice, only force. And the rule of law is a façade. A piece of theatre the leadership put on, to fool people into thinking they were playing along. With the illegal annexation of Crimea, they already showed their blatant disregard for the rules-based international order. And then, on the 24th of February 2022, the Russian leadership fully pulled down their mask and showed the world who they really are," Bauer said.

According to him, Russia is desperately trying to create an image of strength, but has only shown weakness.

"There is no amount of propaganda that can cover up the coffins that fly back to the Russian Federation. There is no amount of propaganda that can answer the questions of the families of the deceased soldiers. And there is no amount of propaganda that can conceal the truth that President Putin has not achieved any of his strategic objectives," Bauer said.

He emphasized that the Russian military has no idea what they are fighting for in Ukraine. While the Ukrainian people and Ukrainian forces have fundamentally changed many aspects of modern warfare.

"You are pioneering with innovation, using combinations of Soviet style equipment with modern Western materiel," he said.