Ukraine’s membership in NATO – Factor of Strengthening of the West

ISLAMABAD: The Vilnius NATO summit may become a prologue to the accelerated integration of Ukraine into NATO. The full-scale war that was started by Putin finally dispelled the illusions of the Kremlin’s true intentions. Even skeptics cannot question his threat to the West. In the current situation, only Ukraine’s membership in NATO can become a factor in strengthening the eastern borders of Europe and a way to end the endless wars of conquest that marked Putin’s reign.

Ukraine has been defending its sovereignty from the Kremlin’s encroachments for almost 16 months. At the end of his reign, Putin uses the Russian military as an instrument of territorial conquest that can only be stopped by force. Any flirting with the Kremlin or indecision has the opposite effect. Thus, Germany’s refusal to provide Ukraine with an action plan for its NATO membership indirectly contributed to Russia’s invasion of Georgia. Putin took Western compliance as weakness and began to prepare for wars of conquest, the apotheosis of which was the annexation of Crimea and a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

If Ukraine were in NATO, the current war practically in the centre of Europe could be avoided. Despite the ongoing hostilities, Kyiv must receive security guarantees and an algorithm for joining NATO, which cannot be an exclusively defensive alliance in the face of the Kremlin’s open territorial expansion. The Ukrainian army is one of the most experienced armies in Europe, it is able to qualitatively strengthen NATO. In turn, by providing Ukraine with security guarantees under Article 5 of the Organization’s Charter, NATO will get rid of the endless Russian wars that have become a problem for the entire civilized world.