On September 30, Zelensky announced that Ukraine had applied for NATO membership.
Opinions on Ukraine’s NATO membership split in Congress / Photo: Denis Shmihal
Presentation of the Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky Ukraine’s accelerated entry into NATO came as a surprise to the Biden administration.
He writes about it Politic referring to two US officials familiar with discussions within the White House.
The spokeswoman for the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, when asked by reporters whether she supports such a development of actions, replied only that she “supports a guarantee of security” for Ukraine.
At the same time, journalists interpret Pelosi’s statement as a refusal to support the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO in the near future: “We are very committed to democracy in Ukraine. Let’s win the war.”
At the same time, Illinois Congressman Mike Quingley said “the struggle for Ukraine is the reason why NATO was formed in the first place.”
“After World War II, we realized that we cannot allow an authoritarian regime to destroy a democratic country. I think we should support it,” he said.
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Prospects for Ukraine in NATO
Ukraine’s accession to the North Atlantic Alliance has long been a sore point in Washington due to Article 5, which provides for US military protection of any member country that is attacked. Over the past decade, the likelihood of a large-scale Russian invasion has grown and Ukraine has sought these guarantees of security. At the same time, the United States and other states were concerned about the prospect of a war with Russia.
The West is concerned that Ukraine’s immediate entry into NATO, which requires the unanimous approval of all 30 member countries, could lead to a war between the United States and Russia.
Some allies of former US President Donald Trump, according to US media, have even tried to persuade Ukraine to pledge not to join NATO in order to appease Putin. Although the United States believed that Russia would invade Ukraine anyway, they were only looking for excuses.
On Friday, September 30, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky made a video message on accelerated NATO membership. On the same day, Putin announced the illegal annexation of the occupied Ukrainian territories.
