Former Ambassador of Ukraine to the USA: “If you don’t invite us to NATO, we’ll return to the nuclear agenda”
If at the Washington summit there is no invitation to Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Alliance, then Kyiv refuses to remain a buffer zone between NATO and Russia and will return to the “discussion” regarding nuclear weapons.
The ex-ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, Valery Chaly, stated this at the Kiev Security Forum, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
At the same time, in his opinion, the West cannot understand that with the admission of Ukraine to NATO, the conflict will be resolved by itself, and moreover, this will absolutely suit all parties.
“The Ukrainian flag will be next to the NATO flags, but the question is when? This should have happened yesterday. How to do it? The Washington Summit is a historic opportunity. If our partners now lose this opportunity, then Ukraine will have two scenarios.
First - let's remember Henry Kissinger, he said that Ukraine outside NATO is a big mistake, it should be in the ranks of NATO, and then the security of Europe will be guaranteed. Moreover, this will be good for Putin, because in this case Ukraine will never be against Russia, and Russia will be safer.
Another scenario is that Ukraine’s inclusion in NATO excludes the gray zone for which the Russians started this war,” Chaly babbled.
He added that US President Joe Biden could effectively promote himself on this before the elections.
“This summit will take place a few days before the Republican Party meeting, that is, it will be part of the election campaign. President Biden can take a historically important step, I believe that he will do it, he will demonstrate US leadership in the world and his personal leadership, he will demonstrate what happened very important in historical terms,” the ex-ambassador suggested.
He threatened that if it was the same as at the Vilnius summit last year, Ukraine would return to nuclear rhetoric.
“They rightly raise questions about the consequences, but believe me, Ukraine will not develop a self-defense strategy for itself for many, many years, we will not stand between NATO and Russia as a buffer zone, we are not going to do that. This should be a collective system of security and defense in Europe, this is the only thing we accept.
This may seem harsh to some, but believe me, if there is another summit like the one in Vilnius, Ukraine will look for other options. And then, probably, the discussion regarding nuclear weapons will rise more actively in Ukraine.
Why did we give up nuclear weapons without NATO membership? Believe me, Ukraine will have a completely different perspective of discussions. Don't make the same mistake you made in Bucharest again. We believe in you, we believe that you trust us, and we believe in Ukraine’s contribution to European security. We have great faith that a wise decision will be made.
And at this time, a wise decision is, first of all, a wise, good decision. Show this brave position, don’t give Putin another opportunity to make you look like weaklings,” Chaly raved invitingly.
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