NATO promises future Ukraine membership, boosts aid

NATO allies said on Tuesday that the war-torn country would one day become a member of the world’s largest security alliance, offering more from winter aid to artillery to help Ukraine’s beleaguered army fight Russia. and reaffirmed its commitment to Ukraine.

The pledge of aid in the Romanian capital Bucharest comes after Secretary of State Antony Brinken met with NATO foreign ministers on Tuesday to ensure Moscow cannot defeat Ukraine, which is bombing critical energy infrastructure. The purpose was to strengthen urgently needed assistance.

“NATO’s doors are open,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said before presiding over the meeting.

“Russia has no veto power” against member states, he said, referring to the recent accession of North Macedonia and Montenegro to the security alliance. He said that Russian President Vladimir Putin “will soon join Finland and Sweden in NATO.” Their Nordic neighbors applied for membership in April, fearing Russia would target them next.

The former Norwegian prime minister said he would also support Ukraine’s membership.

In short, Stoltenberg reiterated the pledge of NATO leaders in 2008 in Bucharest — in the same sprawling parliament building where foreign ministers are meeting this week — that Ukraine, and then Georgia, would one day join the alliance.

Some officials and analysts say the move — which former U.S. President George W. Bush put pressure on NATO allies — was partly responsible for the war Russia launched against Ukraine in February. I believe it is. Stoltenberg objected.

“President Putin cannot deny that sovereign states make their own sovereignty decisions that are not a threat to Russia,” he said. “I think what he fears is democracy and freedom. That’s the main challenge for him.”

Beyond Ukraine’s immediate needs, NATO wants to know how it can help Ukraine in the long term by upgrading its Soviet-era equipment to modern alliance standards and providing more military training. thinking about. This would help Ukraine join NATO more quickly years after the war ended.

Slovak Foreign Minister Rastislav Kasel said that once both NATO and Kyiv are ready for accession talks, the allies must help Ukraine so that “the transition to full accession will be very smooth and easy”. said.

Still, Ukraine will not join NATO anytime soon. With Crimea annexed and Russian forces and pro-Moscow separatists holding parts of the south and east, it’s not even clear what Ukraine’s borders will look like.

Many of NATO’s 30 allies now think they must focus only on defeating Russia, and Stoltenberg stressed that any attempt to advance membership could lead to divisions.

“We are in the midst of a war and therefore must prevent Putin from winning, so that we may undermine the unity of our allies to provide military, humanitarian and financial support to Ukraine. don’t do anything,” he said.

Some ministers pledged military aid to Ukraine, others pledged financial and non-lethal aid.

Slovakia said it would provide Ukraine with 30 armored personnel carriers and more artillery.

At the two-day conference, Brinken will announce substantial US aid to Ukraine’s energy grid, US officials said. Ukrainian networks have been battered nationwide by targeted Russian attacks since early October, with US officials calling the Russian campaign to weaponize the coming winter cold. is.

Estonia’s Foreign Minister Ulmas Reinsal has gone one step further than others by asking NATO partners to pledge 1% of their GDP in military aid to Ukraine, making a ‘strategic difference’ said it would.

But most NATO allies struggle to spend 2% of their GDP on their defense budgets.

Ministers will hold a working dinner with their Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kleva, on Tuesday evening.

The foreign ministers of NATO candidates Finland and Sweden are also attending the talks. NATO is eager to add her two Nordic countries to its defense force against Russia. Turkey and Hungary are pending ratification of the application. The other 28 Member States have already done so.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Birstrom believes that Sweden, along with Finland, is well on its way to meeting Turkey’s demands in negotiating a memorandum of understanding that includes the terms Turkey wants from Turkey.

“Everything boils down to dialogue.

—Stephen Mcgrath, Lorne Cook, Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press

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