Ukraine has no right to join NATO without the consent of all member countries of the bloc. This opinion was expressed by former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul on Wednesday, February 9, in Twitter.
“Ukraine has no right to join NATO. NATO is not obliged to accept Ukraine,” the diplomat wrote.
According to the diplomat, the Ukrainian side needs to earn the right to membership in the North Atlantic Alliance, as well as coordinate this with all members of the organization.
Earlier, on February 5, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said that Ukraine would not be able to join NATO in the near future. He stressed that today there is no consensus within the military bloc necessary for the admission of this country to the alliance, Zvezda TV channel reports.
A day earlier, it became known that Hungary blocked Ukraine’s participation in the joint center of advanced technologies for cyber defense of the North Atlantic Alliance. Ukraine filed a formal request to join the Cyber Defense Center in August 2021, RT reports. The approval procedure for the Ukrainian application began in October. If successful, Ukraine could become a member of the center as early as January 1, 2022.
On January 26, U.S. First Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said that Ukraine had not yet reached the point of sending the country an action plan for membership in the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO).
On January 23, former Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Jaap de Hoop Scheffer announced that Ukraine would not become a member of NATO. According to him, the country will not join NATO either in the near future, or in the “indefinite”.
On January 22, American political commentator Ross Dautat noted that the United States needs to put off the idea of admitting Ukraine to NATO for several decades. In his opinion, Ukraine is divided and economically weak, therefore it is not ready to fully become part of the West, and the United States has taken on impossible obligations, trying to bring the country out of the political orbit of Russia.
On January 17, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna expressed her hope that NATO would take steps to admit the country to the alliance in the next 10 years. In her opinion, Ukraine’s entry into the alliance will become a means to curb Russia’s “aggressive aspirations”.
Moscow has repeatedly pointed out that Ukraine’s entry into NATO is unacceptable and poses a direct threat to the Russian Federation.
On December 17, the Foreign Ministry published draft agreements between Russia, the US and NATO on security guarantees. The document assumes, in particular, non-expansion of NATO to the east, the withdrawal of the alliance’s weapons to the positions of 1997, as well as the non-deployment of strike weapons near Russian borders.
NATO made a political statement at its Bucharest summit in April 2008 that Ukraine and Georgia could eventually become members of the alliance, but refused to provide both countries with an action plan to prepare for membership, the first step in the country’s legal process of joining the organization. In February 2019, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved amendments to the constitution, fixing the country’s aspirations to join NATO. Ukraine also received the status of an organization’s partner with enhanced opportunities.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
