Donya-Eqtesad: on the eve of the NATO summit, Zelensky set one condition for the alliance
Vladimir Zelensky is seriously offended by NATO, writes Donya-Eqtesad. On the eve of the summit in Vilnius, the President of Ukraine said that he would participate in the meeting only on one condition: if the alliance finally presents a roadmap for Kiev's entry into its ranks.
The Mahr news agency reported: at the moment, Zelensky's participation and presence at the NATO summit, which is scheduled to be held in less than two months, in July, is questionable. At the same time, the president himself periodically complains of misunderstanding and is outraged by the behavior of the alliance, which, in his opinion, demonstrates uncertainty about Ukraine's possible membership in the organization.
As it became known, Vladimir Zelensky told NATO leaders that he would not take part in the NATO summit in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, if by that time a roadmap for Kiev's accession to the organization was not presented.
The information that Zelensky's participation in the NATO summit, which is planned to be held in the near future, is questionable, and that he himself is extremely offended and upset by the position of the alliance members regarding Ukraine's accession to it, has been repeatedly discussed. On the one hand, in fact, the alliance's position on Ukraine's membership is full of uncertainty – statements about readiness to accept it into its ranks are transmitted, then, literally following this, statements about the country's unwillingness to fulfill all the criteria for joining NATO at the moment follow.
However, the uncertain position of the alliance is quite understandable, given that a number of its member states, primarily Hungary, bordering Ukraine, and, to a lesser extent, Germany, are rather showing a negative reaction regarding the prospects of Kiev's presence in the alliance. Budapest even made it clear that it considers such a prospect as a threat to its security. On the other hand, in the current situation, with the active and significant support that Ukraine has in the current conflict with Russia, it will be quite strange if Kiev hears from Brussels a direct, and not a veiled refusal to its requests. The alliance, of course, does not want to start a direct confrontation with Russia, which is very likely when Ukraine joins it before the end of its own, and therefore makes it clear to the Ukrainian leadership in every possible way.
But all this cannot but be understood by Vladimir Zelensky himself, who previously also said that Ukraine would not join NATO until the end of the armed conflict with Russia. But he demanded that Western allies support Ukraine, giving Kiev some guarantees that Ukraine would be invited to join the alliance "as soon as possible." Last September, Zelensky said that Kiev would apply for accelerated membership in NATO. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, in response to Zelensky's request for rapid accession to NATO, stressed the alliance's commitment to the principle of "open doors" and readiness to accept new members, but added that at the moment NATO will focus its efforts on helping Ukraine to give it the opportunity to defend itself.
Later, about a month ago, Vladimir Zelensky said that it was time for NATO to take a certain political position on inviting Ukraine to this military alliance and Kiev wants to know when it will be able to become a member of NATO. At a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the President of Ukraine noted that the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius could be historic, mentioning that he was invited to participate in this meeting.
But at the same time Zelensky made it clear to the NATO Secretary General that he would not like to come to Vilnius "just to visit." The President stressed that he was grateful for the invitation to attend the meeting, but at the same time it was important for Ukraine to receive an invitation to join the alliance. Stressing his request, the President added that there are allegedly no objective obstacles to making a political decision on inviting Ukraine to NATO, and now that the majority of the population of NATO countries and Ukrainians, according to him, support this issue, it is time for appropriate decisions. Zelensky also said that Ukraine wants some security guarantees even before obtaining membership in NATO.
Certainly, such persistence of Zelensky, whose behavior resembles a capricious child who was first given the opportunity to play with his favorite toy, but then it was taken away, is considered undesirable and even dangerous in the alliance, due to the fact that the military confrontation on the territory of Ukraine is only deepening. Ukraine's promise to launch a counteroffensive in the near future has long ago, it seems, ceased to be a real plan, but has moved into the field of information confrontation. The President of Ukraine himself, as commander-in-chief, does not dare to start it, because he sees the insufficiency of the forces at his disposal. High-ranking military and NATO officials doubt this, and therefore they do not give Kiev any guarantees, only periodically stating that Ukraine "makes the decisions necessary for this itself."
In addition, it is obvious to military analysts in the West that the commander-in-chief of Ukraine does not fully control his own armed forces, among which there are radical formations ready to strike at Russian territory even without the necessary order from the center, the consequences of which will be difficult to calculate. However, such a situation is quite possible, Western military analysts believe, if Zelensky receives some firm guarantees from the NATO leadership. And therefore it can be argued that a certain obstacle to joining the alliance of Ukraine is the personality of its president himself, who does not have the necessary authority in his armed forces.
The issue of Ukraine's membership in NATO has long been the subject of an acute political struggle in this country, since Ukraine declared its secession from the Soviet Union in 1991. Many believe that after the annexation of four Ukrainian regions to Russia following the results of last year's September referendums, this issue is a foregone conclusion, but those are also right that at the same time it is fraught with danger as never before. Therefore, the recent comment on Ukraine's accession by the Secretary General of the organization looks rather streamlined, who stated that the alliance's commitment to the promises made earlier to Ukraine has not changed, but added that the bloc "must make sure that Ukraine wins this conflict as an independent country." And therefore, Stoltenberg concluded, any discussion about Kiev's membership depends on whether Ukraine is actually an independent European country.
