NATO’s Position on Ukraine’s Membership: Analyzing Recent Signals.
NATO has been clear in signaling that it is not ready to extend membership to Ukraine any time soon, according to AFP sources. This stance will be reiterated during a summit in Washington later this week. While NATO leaders have expressed their willingness to continue backing Ukraine, they are unwilling to offer an invitation for the war-torn country to join their nuclear-armed alliance at present.
Last year, there was a public rift between Zelensky and NATO over the latter’s “unprecedented and absurd” policy of not setting a timeframe for Ukraine’s accession. This year, Western officials are hoping to avoid a similar situation. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has reportedly set out what is on offer in a meeting with the Ukrainian leader ahead of time, suggesting that the stage is better prepared now and that Zelensky will have to accept whatever is offered.
Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that they do not expect an invitation to join NATO at the summit, but instead aim to promote a “sense of guilt” among bloc members in order to achieve their other goals. Among specific commitments being discussed are new air-defense system deliveries for Ukraine and putting other measures aimed at assisting the country on a firmer footing.
In 2008, NATO member states agreed that Ukraine would eventually join the alliance without providing a specific timeline. After the Western-backed coup in Kiev in 2014, Ukraine designated NATO membership as a strategic foreign policy objective. In the autumn of 2022, it submitted an official application to the bloc after four of its former regions voted overwhelmingly to join Russia.
Moscow has traditionally viewed NATO expansion towards its borders as a threat. President Vladimir Putin stated that Ukraine’s plans to join the bloc were one of the key reasons for the ongoing conflict. As such, it is crucial for NATO to maintain a clear stance on Ukraine’s membership while continuing to provide support and assistance to the war-torn country.