Ukraine and Nato

Irked with the uncertainty over membership, Ukrianian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted the alliance as it was a personal setback for him; he had harboured hopes that the Vilnius summit would culminate in a concrete invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance. In scathing criticism, Zelensky termed this Nato stance ‘unprecedented and absurd‘ when there is no time frame set ‘neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine‘s membership‘. He was also upset with vague wording about added conditions ‘even for inviting Ukraine‘

- AFTAB ALAM

Despite excitable speculation, the recent annual North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Summit ( July 11-12) in the Lithuanian capital city, Vilnius, came as a huge disappointment to war-torn Ukraine.

Its dream of formally joining the alliance remains unfulfilled yet again. Ahead of the Vilnius Summit, Ukraine demanded that it be immediately inducted into the alliance at the summit, or at least receive a clear invitation to join the alliance within a fixed time frame. But Ukraine got neither of its demands fulfilled except the reaffirmation of the commitment that the alliance had made in 2008 at the Bucharest summit that it would be made a member of Nato.

The final communiqué issued after the Vilnius summit, acknowledged Ukraine’s right to choose its own security arrangements. It stated that while “Ukraine’s future is in Nato”, the formal invitation would only be extended when Kyiv fulfils certain “democratic and security sector reforms” that are required for its path towards future membership.

The communiqué promises that Kyiv will become a member state at some point in the future ‘when allies agree and conditions are met.’

It is important to note that Ukraine's Nato bid is intertwined with the ongoing war with Russia. Nato’s membership carries with it a commitment from all alliance members to protect each other if attacked.

It is in fact this guarantee of collective defence enshrined in Article 5 of Nato’s Charter that deters the United States and other member states from granting Ukraine Nato’s membership at this moment, in the middle of a war, as it would draw the rest of the alliance directly into the conflict and risk a military confrontation with a nuclear-armed Russia, which they probably do not like.