Western countries have changed their minds about Ukraine's membership in NATO. This is due to the fact that the Ukrainian army is very necessary for the North Atlantic Alliance.
This opinion was expressed to Channel 24 by Russian publicist and oppositionist from the United States Andrei Piontkovsky. According to him, earlier Western allies considered the issue of Ukraine's membership in NATO as a certain indulgence towards Kyiv.
However, now everything has changed. NATO countries recognize the power of the Ukrainian army and openly say that Ukraine should become a member of the Alliance.
“NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg almost daily says that after the victory, Ukraine must urgently be admitted to NATO. Not because it will secure Ukraine, but because it is the only thing that can secure Europe,” Piontkovsky stressed.
Why has the West changed its opinion on Ukraine?
According to him, there is no other European army that could compete with the Ukrainian one with its combat experience. Therefore, Western politicians are gradually admitting that their opinion about Ukraine's membership in the Alliance was wrong.
The publicist recalled that even Henry Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State, spoke in favor of Ukraine joining NATO.
Henry Kissinger, who spent the last 30 years of his life fighting for the non-expansion of NATO, now honestly admits that he was wrong. And this is the refrain of many politicians,” Piontkovsky noted.
He added that many politicians explained their unwillingness to see Ukraine as part of the Alliance by the fact that in this way they wanted to prevent a war. However, according to the oppositionist, it was precisely such a policy that gave rise to the war, because it increased Vladimir Putin's sense of impunity.
Stream of Artem Ovdienko and Andrey Piontkovsky: watch the full video
Ukraine is already a de facto member of NATO
Piontkovsky stressed that de facto Ukraine is already a member of the North Atlantic Alliance. Two facts speak in favor of this.
- NATO countries are arming Ukraine. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are rebuffing the aggressor with the help of NATO weapons.
- The Ukrainian army is the only one that now protects all the European members of NATO.
The Russian publicist noted that Ukraine only needs to formalize its membership in the North Atlantic Alliance on paper.
“They will find a formula for how to formalize it de jure. Vladimir Zelensky, Jens Stoltenberg and Joe Biden will figure out how to do it,” Piontkovsky added.
Ukraine on the way to NATO: briefly
- On September 30, 2022, Ukraine officially applied to join NATO. This happened on the day when Russian dictator Vladimir Putin “annexed” 4 Ukrainian regions to Russia in Moscow.
- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that he had invited President Volodymyr Zelensky to attend the Alliance's summit in Vilnius in July.
- Political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko believes that such a step is already evidence of Ukraine's actual membership in the Alliance. The legal accession procedure will be closed after the end of the war.
- Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak is convinced that Ukraine can become a member of NATO before joining the European Union.
