Irina Pogorelaya17:31, 01/31/24

At the same time, a number of member countries are in favor of admitting the country to the Alliance.

The United States and Germany are the main opponents of inviting Ukraine to NATO , although Eastern European countries and Britain insist on this.

Foreign Policy writes about this with reference to sources. Other Western NATO member countries are also against it. They believe that Ukraine cannot be accepted while there is a war, so as not to provoke a conflict between the Alliance and the Russian Federation over the occupied Ukrainian territories. Although in general they support joining in the long term.

It is “believed” that France is ready to send Ukraine an official invitation to become a NATO ally.

Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic countries believe that only Ukraine’s membership in NATO will convince Russia to slow down the invasion and end the war.

Other supporters of accession believe that it will be cheaper than a constant supply of weapons.

But the United States asked its allies not to push this topic at the summer NATO summit in Washington, so as not to give the Russian Federation the opportunity to talk about a split in the Alliance.

The publication writes that even if Ukraine receives an invitation, approval by all NATO countries “may take years.”

Ukraine’s accession to NATO

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that  all member countries of the Alliance support the idea of ​​Ukraine’s accession . As evidence, he cited the decision of the NATO summit in July 2023, at which the requirement for Ukraine to implement the “Membership Action Plan” was canceled. 

At the same time, in early January of this year, the former commander of US forces in Europe, retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, expressed the opinion that the  NATO summit  in Washington in 2024 is unlikely to have significant results for Ukraine due to the fact that there is no ” sufficient level of energy” on this issue.

(C)UNIAN 2024