Home » News » “It’s important to get a clear signal.” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry commented on the country’s relations with NATO

“It’s important to get a clear signal.” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry commented on the country’s relations with NATO

“We are not attached to the next NATO summit. It is important for us to receive a clear signal about the readiness of the Alliance to provide Ukraine with the MAP and what needs to be done for this. […] … We must clearly understand the time frame for obtaining the MAP, and then the very membership in the Alliance. We must get a clear perspective and now is the most optimal time for this, “the diplomat said.

He noted that Ukraine has been hearing the story about the open door to NATO for a long time.

“The aggravation at the front and the concentration of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine showed: until we get NATO membership, until then Russia will threaten with force or will continue to use force, as it happens every day at the front,” Bodnar explained.

He believes that if there is no progress on the Euro-Atlantic track, then the Ukrainians “must completely switch to defense.”

“On the other hand, if we are to develop, we must receive some practical guarantees of protection, and not only on paper, like the Budapest Memorandum. Such a guarantee, for example, could be the permanent presence of the navies of NATO countries in the Black Sea region,” he said. Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine.

According to Bodnar, “Russia will always try to bargain with the West about Ukraine” and only “clarity on the part of NATO regarding Ukraine’s future membership in the Alliance will make it possible in practice to minimize the Russian threat.”

Context:

Ukraine stepped up cooperation with NATO in 2014 against the background of the occupation of Crimea by Russia and the armed conflict in Donbass. At the end of 2014, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law that provides for the refusal of Ukraine from the policy of “non-aligned”… In accordance with the Military Doctrine of Ukraine, adopted in 2015, deepening cooperation with NATO is a priority.

On February 7, 2019, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a law on amending the Constitution provisions on the strategic course of the state for the acquisition of full membership of Ukraine in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The law came into force on February 21.

In 2018, NATO recognized Ukraine postgraduate country status – candidate for membership in the Alliance, in 2020 Ukraine received the status of an advanced partner.

On April 6, 2021, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that Alliance is the only way to end the war in the Donbass and that the provision of an action plan for NATO membership to Ukraine “will be a real signal for the Russian Federation.” Commenting on the conversation with Zelensky, Stoltenberg said that NATO firmly supports sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Among NATO members, Latvia and Lithuania supported the granting of MAP to Ukraine. On April 7, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis announced that it would be “a strong signal for Russia”that the course that Ukraine has chosen is appreciated by the NATO countries. On the same day, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics said that will unequivocally support such a decision, as Ukraine has been trying to join NATO for 15 years.

Ruslan Stefanchuk, First Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, said that parliament should pass about 60 billsto pave the way for Ukraine to join the EU and NATO.

On May 3, at a joint briefing with Zelensky, President of Poland Andrzej Duda said that at the NATO summit in June discuss the roadmap for Ukraine’s entry into the Alliance.

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