Kyiv experts are not sure that NATO will stand up for Ukraine
Moscow - Kyiv, December 2 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Stamm) - During December, the New Verkhovna Rada plans to amend the legislation to abolish the non-aligned status and return to the foreign policy course of NATO membership. However, Kyiv experts interviewed by NG note that the alliance is not yet ready to defend Ukraine as its member. This will require not only the consent of all its members, including Germany, but also years of reforms in Ukraine.
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The Ukrainian government intends to carry out fundamental reforms in the next five years that meet both the obligations within the framework of the association with the European Union and NATO criteria. President Petro Poroshenko recently noted that the requirements from the EU and NATO coincide by 95%. If the Ukrainian government successfully fulfills all the points of the association agreement with the EU, then by 2020 it will be able to apply for membership in both the EU and NATO.
However, as Nezavisimaya Gazeta notes, Germany, unlike the United States, proposes to look at things realistically and not give Ukraine promises about soon joining NATO. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in an interview with ZDF television, said that Ukraine first needs to carry out reforms and solve internal problems, including the issues of Crimea and Donbass. And this, the publication reminds, could take “either 14 days or 14 years.”
According to Vladimir Gorbach, an expert at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, NATO is developing action plans that involve different scenarios for the development of events. “But these plans relate to ensuring the security and defense of NATO members, including the Baltic countries and Poland. The West is focusing on containing Russia – through economic, political, diplomatic measures, and not on protecting Ukraine,” he said "NG".
Co-director of foreign policy and international security programs at the Razumkov Center, Alexey Melnik, believes that the leadership of the alliance excludes the possibility of direct military intervention in the conflict, Alexey Melnik noted: “NATO is not obliged to provide military assistance to a country that is not part of the alliance. Moreover, NATO does not even have the capacity to provide assistance to Ukraine through the transfer of weapons and equipment.”
Melnik admitted that Ukraine will not become a NATO member in the coming years. “The implementation of this strategic task depends on two key conditions: the readiness of Ukraine and the readiness of partners. Firstly, Ukraine must fulfill the technical conditions and approach the standards of the alliance member countries in all spheres, including political and economic. This course must receive strong support from both the political elite and the population of Ukraine.
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