LONDON (Reuters) -British defence minister Ben Wallace said on Wednesday he did not expect to succeed Jens Stoltenberg as NATO secretary general, The Economist magazine reported.

Stoltenberg is due to step down in September after nine years as secretary general of the military alliance but it has struggled to decide on a replacement ahead of a mid-July summit in Lithuania, and last week sources said he was expected to be asked to stay on for another year.

"It’s not going to happen," Wallace, who had declared openly that he would like the job, told The Economist in an interview, adding that the United States wants Stoltenberg to stay.

"Maybe they want a prime minister," he added.

The article also cited sources close to Wallace as saying the process remains open. A spokesperson for Wallace declined to comment.

(Reporting by Kylie MacLellan and Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Howard Goller and Daniel Wallis)