Ukraine is losing hope that the alliance will invite it to join anytime soon.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha issued a pointed message to NATO Tuesday, saying that Kyiv “will not accept” any security guarantees other than full NATO membership.
In a letter addressed to his NATO counterparts, Sybiha said that “the only real security guarantee for Ukraine, as well as a deterrent to further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other states, is Ukraine’s full membership in NATO.” In a letter addressed to his NATO counterparts, Sybiha said that “the only real security guarantee for Ukraine, as well as a deterrent to further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other states, is Ukraine’s full membership in NATO.”
“We will not accept any alternatives, surrogates or substitutes for Ukraine’s full membership in NATO,” he said, adding that only such a move would counter Russian aggression.
He pointed out that past agreements, such as the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which was supposed to protect Ukraine after it gave up its nuclear weapons, turned out to be meaningless.
“Not providing Ukraine with real, effective security guarantees in the 1990s was a strategic mistake that Moscow exploited. This mistake must be corrected,” Sybiha wrote.
The letter comes ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss ongoing support for Ukraine. Despite Kyiv’s call, no significant steps toward inviting Ukraine into the alliance are expected during the summit.
https://www.politico.eu/article/kyiv-issues-ultimatum-on-nato-membership
