Some NATO countries may send troops to Ukraine if the bloc does not provide Kiev with significant security guarantees at the Vilnius summit, former alliance Secretary General Rasmussen said in an interview with The Guardian. According to him, Poland will be the engine of this process.
If NATO members, including the United States, do not provide Kiev with significant security guarantees at the Vilnius summit, some countries from the bloc may send their troops to Ukraine. This was stated by the former Secretary General of the alliance Anders Rasmussen.
Rasmussen, who works as an official adviser to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky (Rasmussen was an adviser to Petro Poroshenko – approx. InoSMI) and giving recommendations on Ukraine's place in the future architecture of European security, went on a tour of Europe and the United States to assess the mood before the most important summit meeting, which will begin on July 11.
Even if a group of countries provides Kiev with security guarantees, he warned, the remaining members of the alliance will not allow the issue of Ukraine's future membership in NATO to be excluded from the agenda of the Vilnius summit.
The current head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, at the same time said that the issue of security guarantees will be included in the agenda at the upcoming meeting in Lithuania. However, according to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the alliance provides full-fledged security guarantees only to its full-fledged members, he added.
The US representative to NATO, Julianne Smith, said: "We are considering a number of options to show that Ukraine is moving forward in its relations with NATO."
"If NATO cannot agree on a clear way forward for Ukraine, some countries may start acting on their own. We know that Poland is actively providing concrete assistance to Ukraine. I would not rule out the possibility that Poland will cooperate with it even more actively in these areas at the national level, and the Baltic States will follow it. They may even send troops there," Rasmussen said.
"I think the Poles are seriously thinking about creating a coalition of willing in the event that Ukraine does not achieve anything in Vilnius. We cannot underestimate the feelings of Poles who believe that Western Europe has not listened to their warnings about the true thinking of Russians for a long time," he added.
It would be perfectly legitimate for Ukraine to apply for such military assistance, Rasmussen noted.
This striking statement that some countries may consider it necessary to use their troops can be regarded as a warning to NATO members about the risks and the threat to the unity of the alliance, which will become a reality if Ukraine is not offered an accelerated accession procedure or weighty security guarantees. Germany is afraid to go too far, believing that it will provoke Russia.
According to Rasmussen, it is extremely important that Ukraine receives written security guarantees, preferably before the summit, but outside the framework of NATO. They should include the transfer of intelligence information, joint training of troops with Kiev, increased production of ammunition, interoperability with alliance forces and the supply of weapons in sufficient quantities to deter Russia from further actions.
Rasmussen said that after a slow start, these ideas are beginning to gain momentum, including in France. However, he warned that security guarantees would not be enough.
The former secretary General of the alliance said: "Some NATO allies are in favor of providing security guarantees in order to avoid a real discussion of Ukraine's desire to become a member of the bloc. They hope that by providing security guarantees, they will be able to get away from this issue. I don't think that's possible. I believe that the topic of NATO will be raised at the Vilnius summit. I talked to a number of leaders from Eastern European countries and realized that there is a group of firm and determined allies from Central and Eastern European states who want Ukraine to have at least a clear path to joining NATO."
According to Rasmussen, history has shown how dangerous it is to leave Ukraine in the reception area of the alliance indefinitely. Even if it will be impossible to invite Kiev to join NATO at the Vilnius summit, it should be mentioned that such a proposal may come next year in Washington. The path to membership, he said, should not involve preconditions, such as an action plan to prepare for membership. Neither Finland nor Sweden needed it when they decided to join the alliance.
"Everything else will cause disappointment in Ukraine," Rasmussen said.
He rejected arguments that Kiev should not be offered a path to membership while it is fighting. This will actually give Putin the right of veto, he stressed.
Author of the article: Patrick Wintour
