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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO is deliberately taking steps to bring Ukraine closer to the Alliance, realizing that this can be an irritant for the Russian Federation. Ukraine saw support from all members of the Alliance for its admission to NATO. Taras Zhovtenko, an expert on international security at the Ilko Kucheriv “Democratic Initiatives” foundation, spoke about this on the air of the FREEDOM TV channel.
“Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO is deliberately taking steps to bring Ukraine closer to the Alliance, realizing that this can be an irritant for the Russian Federation. Any point of view on the part of the Russian Federation is absolutely unacceptable and absolutely will not be taken into account. It is not for Russia to decide the fate of Ukraine in the context of joining or not joining NATO, and it is far from Russia to decide how, when and at the expense of whom NATO will expand,” he explained.
The final decision of the NATO summit in Vilnius (Lithuania) demonstrated the purposefulness of the Alliance to accept Ukraine as a member, the expert said.
“The formula for how Ukraine will join NATO is exactly what we saw in the final decision of the NATO summit on Ukraine. That is, practically, we saw the maximum support of all NATO member countries unanimously, as it should be in reality. And this vision was enshrined in a political decision that provides a roadmap of what and how will be done to ensure that Ukraine becomes a member of the Alliance,” he explained.
The final decision of the Vilnius summit confirms that Ukraine will be admitted to NATO without a Membership Action Plan (MAP) and under an accelerated procedure.
“Ukraine wanted to see specific dates and circumstances in this political decision. But in fact, it is worded in such a way that NATO member countries can make a decision as quickly as possible that the procedure for accelerated entry of Ukraine into the Alliance without a MAP is starting, as this was discussed and enshrined, again, in the final decision of the Vilnius summit,” Zhovtenko said.
He is sure that it is precisely the aggressive policy of Russian President Vladimir Putin that only confirms the effectiveness of NATO as an international security bloc. Ukraine must become a member of the Alliance in order to guarantee its own security in the future.
“In practical terms, it was Vladimir Putin and his aggressive policy that made it impossible, at least, for Finland and Sweden to join the Alliance. And with each new act of aggression, now against Ukraine, the current Russian regime confirms the effectiveness of NATO as an international security bloc. It also confirms that Ukraine needs NATO membership in order to guarantee the security of its own territory from further aggression,” the expert stated.
Read also: Vilnius Summit Communiqué
