WASHINGTON – NATO allies are in final negotiations over language claiming that Ukraine’s eventual entry into the military alliance is “irreversible” – unless it mandates needed reforms to the club.
The US and other member states said at last year’s summit in Lithuania that Ukraine would become a member “when the allies agree and the conditions are met”.
At this point they are likely to find, at a critical juncture in Washington, that Ukraine still has some distance to travel, one US expert said, as long as it continues to walk, a path to the NATO club. There will be a way.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg advised reporters in Washington DC on Sunday night that the allies are ready to agree on the exact terms.
Excessive:As part of his re-election campaign, Joe Biden hosts high-stakes NATO summit in Washington
Stoltenberg noted, “We are working on the exact language on how to express that Ukraine is going to become a NATO ally, and how we are going to move forward.”
Talks on the NATO club for Ukraine follow claims by former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican 2024 nominee, that he would move to end the war in Ukraine if elected in November. Trump has also said that the talk of Ukraine joining the alliance is scaring Russia.
The NATO allies plan to announce an unprecedented package of relief at the height of the crisis, which will bring leaders of more than 31 Western countries, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, to Washington for several days of talks.
It is likely to include five elements, Stoltenberg said: training for Ukrainians with a command center in Germany and a logistics hub in the alliance’s eastern flank; A financial promise to continue to provide a “minimum baseline” of $43 billion in mixed military assistance in the nearest year; “substantial” construction of additional guns, ammunition supplies and wind protection facilities; Bilateral security commitments, just as the US announced the finalization of a 10-year agreement; And untouched systems supporting the Defense Forces of Ukraine become fully interoperable with NATO.
He noted that the 5 measures “build a bridge to membership”, which coupled with the language in the extreme declaration expresses that Ukraine is “moving closer to NATO membership”.
Excessive:Russian missile hits Ukrainian youth clinic as Biden welcomes NATO leaders
“The language on membership is one of the remaining issues,” Stoltenberg said. “So now we are discussing it. I am confident that we will find a solution.”
The speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY on Monday morning that Ukraine needs additional air defense programs, ammunition and fighter planes.
“This is a very powerful package and the same applies to the bilateral security agreements that Ukraine has already signed with many countries,” he said. “But one thing we must understand is that this package should be a package that supports Ukraine on the way to joining NATO, but not as a replacement for joining NATO.”
A senior management professional told reporters at the closing ceremony called White Space that the peak talks would be accompanied by “very strong language” that bolsters President Joe Biden’s position that Ukraine will tie up NATO.
On Sunday night, a US professional advised USA TODAY that the Biden administration was right to include an “irreversible” pledge in the clear position that Ukraine meets all necessary requirements.
Excessive:Trump aides have presented a plan to freeze US military aid to Ukraine unless it engages in rapprochement talks with Russia.
A second professional said that for the US to approve Ukraine’s NATO membership, it would have to end the war with Russia and Ukraine would have to implement anti-corruption reforms.
Stefanchuk says Ukraine has made reforms. As Speaker of Parliament, he said he would make every effort to promote this process.
“We are open to all proposals and suggestions from our partners that will help us not only in fighting corruption but also in building and strengthening the Ukrainian state,” he said.
Ukraine is the focal point of NATO summit
NATO is coordinating US security assistance to Ukraine. Stoltenberg noted that the aim is to “create a more predictable, stronger institutional framework for support” in the long run.
Trump has repeatedly claimed he could temporarily end the war if he defeats Biden.
“They’re dying, Russians and Ukrainians,” Trump said at CNN City Hall in May 2023. “I want them to stop dying. And I will do that – I will do that in 24 hours.”
Trump said during the June 27 presidential debate with Biden that, if he wins a second term, he would end the war before taking the administration center. He did not talk specifically about how he would end the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin then said that he believed Trump was honest, but he did not know what Trump planned to do.
Excessive:Biden signs 10-year deal with Ukraine, which could change if Trump wins
Trump has not mentioned explicitly how he would deal with the problem. A proposal brought through his allies would include delaying Ukraine’s accession to NATO and worsening relations with Russia.
Under one of these situations, Ukraine could be warned that it could receive additional American guns if it agreed to go to peace talks, while Russia would be informed that refusing to negotiate would result in There will be more US aid for Ukraine.
“It’s time to sit down and start the conversation,” said retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who was chief of staff for the National Security Council under Trump.
To Ukraine, the US should say, “If you sit down and talk, we will continue to support you and if not, we will switch our support,” said Kellogg, who is similar to Trump and his Talk regularly on the campaign.
Excessive:ERA on Ukraine’s entry layout: ‘Worse than hell’ as Russia advances
The message to Russia should be, “If you sit down and talk we can stop the killing and discuss Ukraine’s entry into NATO in the near future. If you don’t start the discussion, we can stop Ukraine’s Will support destruction on a very large scale.” “Russian forces in Ukraine.”
Alternative analysts question the wisdom of this approach.
Rose Gottemoeller, who served as NATO deputy secretary general during the Trump administration, warned that this approach would send the wrong message not only to Putin, but also to leaders such as China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
“This would send the message that aggression is rewarded,” said Gottemoeller, now a schoolmaster at Stanford College in California. “This is the wrong message an American president wants to send to anyone in the world, full stop. I think this is a way to promote violence, aggression in other parts of the world.”
Telling Ukraine not to align with NATO and telling Russia it would potentially annex one of the key territories it stole would result in a year-long Russia-Ukraine war, says John Herbst. Said, who served as US Ambassador to Ukraine under George W. Bush and is now the Atlantic Council’s senior director of Eurasia Middle East.
He said, “The guy who put that package together, Trump, is going to look like an idiot.”
Herbst said such an approach would also affect US interests in the Western Pacific.
Herbst said, “It is no coincidence that Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have emphasized the importance of defeating Putin in Ukraine as a way to contain Xi in Taiwan.” “The stakes go beyond European security and the vital interest Americans have in European security,” he said.
Stoltenberg said on Sunday that the allies would announce concrete movements in NATO, without referring to the language at the club.
Stoltenberg noted, “The essence of our package, that we will deepen and strengthen our security cooperation with Ukraine, speaks just as loudly as the language in the declaration.” “And I really believe we are turning a turn now, given that we have been able to agree (on) all these elements of the security package.”
Discover more from news2source
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
