Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy has denounced NATO for refusing to offer Ukraine swift entry into the military alliance.
“Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy has accused NATO of not showing enough ’respect’ as he lashed out at the U.S.-led bloc for its unwillingness to offer Kiev immediate membership.
Zelenskyy launched his broadside on Tuesday as NATO began its summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. The Ukrainian president cited ‘signals’ he had received which indicated Kiev would not be granted an invitation of any sort to join the bloc.
‘We value our allies. We value our shared security. And we always appreciate an open conversation. Ukraine will be represented at the NATO summit in Vilnius. Because it is about respect. But Ukraine also deserves respect’, Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media.
It’s unprecedented and absurd when [a] time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership. While at the same time vague wording about ‘conditions’ is added even for inviting Ukraine.
According to reports, the most recent version of a draft communiqué by NATO states that it ‘will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine when allies agree and conditions are met’. Such a stance appears unacceptable to Kiev, which has accused the bloc of playing into Russia’s hands.
‘It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the Alliance. This means that a window of opportunity is being left to bargain Ukraine’s membership in NATO in negotiations with Russia’, Zelenskyy wrote.
The outburst from the Ukrainian leader has reportedly not gone down well with Western diplomats at the summit in Vilnius. ‘I am critical of many aspects and particularly of some allies’ attitude, but I think that this is not a thoughtful and fair approach’, a senior diplomat from Central Europe told Politico, claiming that Zelenskyy ‘is going too far’.
NATO has sent already enough signals that it is ready to accept Ukraine into its ranks at some point, another diplomat told the outlet. ‘Whatever the wording in our communiqué, all allies are agreed that Ukraine’s future rightful place is in NATO and only us and them can decide on this’, he said”. -RT
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg proposed that member states “remove the requirement for a Membership Action Plan (MAP)” for Kiev which would change the accession path from a two-step process to a one-step process.
While NATO is looking to threaten Moscow with a full-scale direct confrontation with the military bloc, it has demonstrated a willingness to scrap the existing diplomatic processes even in its attempts at diplomacy.