Jens Stoltenberg, the head of NATO, said on May 24 that Ukraine can’t join the union as long as the war with Russia is still going on.
“To join in the middle of a war is not on the table,” he said at a meeting in Brussels put on by the German Marshall Fund of the United States. “The question is what will happen after the war.”
In September of last year, Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, tried to speed up the process of joining NATO. This happened after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that four parts of Ukraine that were only partly controlled were now part of Russia.
Zelensky’s request has not been granted by the union. The governments of the West are still wary of moves that they think would bring NATO and Russia closer to a full-scale war.
But Ukraine and some of its partners are asking NATO to do something to bring Kyiv closer to becoming a member.
In April, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote in an opinion piece for Foreign Affairs, “It is time for the alliance to stop making excuses and start the process that will lead to Ukraine’s eventual membership.” “What we need is a clear written statement from the allies that shows us how to join.”
Future of Ukraine lies with NATO
Stoltenberg toured Kyiv in April. At the time, he stressed that NATO is the key to Ukraine’s security. He did not, however, give a date for when Ukraine might join the group.
At its Bucharest summit in 2008, NATO leaders agreed that Ukraine would finally join the group.
But leaders haven’t taken any steps since then, like giving Kyiv an action plan for membership that would show a timeline for moving the country closer to NATO.
Stoltenberg said at the Brussels meeting that NATO countries had different ideas about how to deal with Ukraine’s plans to join.
“There are different points of view in the union, and of course, consensus is the only way for NATO to make decisions. “Right now, there are talks going on,” Stoltenberg said.
