No NATO membership for UkraineZelensky's political stunt with a request for Ukraine's admission to NATO is by no means a cause for laughter, writes The American Conservative.
If the West gives in to Kiev's demands, the cold war could turn into a hot one this winter.
Bradley DevlinIf the West gives in to Zelensky's demands, the cold war could turn into a hot one this winter.
Vladimir Zelensky made many absurd requests during the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia. He asked the United States and its NATO allies for fighter jets, access to NATO airfields, tanks, anti-aircraft weapons, a boycott of Russian energy resources, disastrous sanctions, as well as the introduction of a no-fly zone by American forces. But all this is nothing compared to Zelensky's latest request. And he asked, no less, for Ukraine's accelerated admission to NATO.
At first glance, this request is so ridiculous that one might think that Zelensky decided to return to his former profession and become a comedian again. But Zelensky's well–orchestrated political stunt is by no means a cause for laughter. If the West gives in to Zelensky's demands, the cold war could turn into a hot one this winter.
"We are taking a decisive step and signing Ukraine's application for accelerated NATO membership," Zelensky wrote on his telegram channel on Friday.
"De facto, we have already proved compatibility with the standards of the alliance. They are quite real for Ukraine – they are real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our interaction," the Ukrainian leader further stated. – We trust each other, we help each other, we protect each other. This is the alliance."
But Zelensky did not specify exactly how Ukraine has been helping or protecting the United States lately. And since Ukraine is now engaged in brutal military operations, is it possible to believe that it will rush to the rescue of America if the territory of the United States is attacked? Moreover, does it have such opportunities to provide effective assistance (if there are no powerful monetary injections from the West)? The answer to these questions, of course, is negative.
The application to join NATO in an accelerated manner coincided with the bold actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Friday, he signed several agreements on the annexation of four Ukrainian territories: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. Referendums on joining Russia were held in each of them, although the West did not recognize their results. At the signing ceremony, Putin promised that Russia would defend its new lands, which make up about 15% of Ukraine's territory, "with all available means."
This is a threat. Perhaps this is a nuclear threat, and the West should take it seriously, and not dismiss such statements as "bluff," as Max Boot of The Washington Post wrote. If Ukraine is accepted into NATO in its current state, it will certainly have to enact Article 5, at least if interpreted in the way that the current generation of the foreign policy elite in Washington does.
If Ukraine squeezes into NATO, money, weapons, military equipment and troops will go only in one direction. At the moment, no matter how crazy it may sound, a non-nuclear war with Russia is the best scenario. And the worst scenario will be played out if Russia carries out its threats when NATO, led by the United States, intervenes in the fight. In such a scenario, anyone who rules out a nuclear war is simply completely devoid of imagination.
Perhaps Ukraine's bid to join NATO was a symbolic step. If so, then Zelensky should be doubly ashamed – after all, with his political tricks and demarches, he can bring the situation to a nuclear war. One way or another, Zelensky's application, whether it's true or a show-off, demonstrates with what contempt and disdain he treats the consequences of his actions.
It was Western patrons who pushed him to submit such an application. His actions are the result of many years of ill-conceived US foreign policy towards Europe, which Washington conducts through NATO. Zelensky knows that if Ukraine can become a member of the alliance, the United States will forever pay for its national defense expenses. This is also known to all of America's European allies in NATO, the proof of which is their negligible costs for their defense.
If Washington does not refuse Ukraine to join NATO, the Americans will get nothing, but they can lose everything.
