Angela Bachevskaya20:36, 07/14/234 min.6879

He calls on the leaders of the Alliance to guarantee Ukraine that it will become a member of NATO without conditions.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticized the decision of NATO leaders not to invite Ukraine to the Alliance at a summit in Vilnius.

In his DailyMail column, he urged the West to be strong, put an end to idle talk, and accept Ukraine into NATO as soon as possible. 

“When NATO leaders came to Vilnius this week, it was very clear what they had to do. They had to be strong.

That’s the whole point of NATO,” Johnson said.He is convinced that the members of the Alliance should have expressed their collective respect and gratitude for the heroic resistance of Ukraine. “… in a fight in which not a single NATO soldier was wounded or killed, because we in the NATO countries know – and constantly say – that the Ukrainians are fighting for all of us,” the ex-premier added.

According to Johnson, it was Western indecisiveness that prompted Putin to invade Ukraine. “No country has done or made more effort than Ukraine to demonstrate its readiness for NATO membership.

No armed forces are more formidable and more effective in using NATO weapons. No country needs NATO membership anymore” he added.

Johnson notes that the Alliance was only required to give Ukraine a clear timetable, so that Ukrainians know that they are expected in the Alliance immediately after the war – even if it ends next year.

“All Ukrainians have received this week is an ‘invitation’ to join NATO ‘when the allies agree and when the conditions are met.’ No wonder President Zelensky found it hard to hide his disappointment at first. When do the allies agree? When are the conditions met?

According to the Bucharest conclusions, the allies agreed on all this 15 years ago! Johnson was outraged.As long as Ukraine is deprived of formal security guarantees under Article 5 of NATO, Putin will continue terror, the ex-premier is convinced. that can recreate the Soviet Union – he will try,” he said.He noted that the UK is “rigorously pursuing a behind-the-scenes campaign” and is seeking to set a timetable for Ukraine. 

“The reluctance does not lie in London,” he added.Johnson says the main problem is that some partners still believe that the war can only be ended through negotiations. 

“They think we have to be artfully ambiguous now because they think Ukraine’s NATO membership could still be part of the deal.

You can make a deal with Putin, they think: you withdraw your troops and we won’t let Ukraine to join NATO.This is crazy.Throughout this war, the West has tended to repeat the same mistake over and over again: overestimating Putin and underestimating Ukraine.

NATO summit: results

Shortly before the summit, Volodymyr Zelensky called on US President Joe Biden to invite Ukraine to the Alliance . 

He said that Ukraine will not be able to become a member of NATO during the war, but this will be a powerful signal for the Ukrainians.The American president said that Ukraine is not ready to become a member of the Alliance  in the midst of a war. 

At the same time, NATO constantly says that the doors are open for Ukraine.During the summit, the leaders announced that  they would lift the requirement for Ukraine to comply with the Membership Action Plan . 

However, to receive an invitation, you will need to fulfill certain conditions.On the first day of the summit, Zelensky wrote an outraged post in which he said that having “conditions” for an invitation is like “not being ready to invite our country to the Alliance.” 

On the second day of the summit, the G7 leaders  agreed on a declaration on security guarantees  for Ukraine. 

(C)UNIAN 2023