Remember, there was such a wonderful Soviet film - "Once again about love"? My column will also be "once again about love" - ​​love of calculated, but nevertheless passionate and unrequited. That doesn't happen, you say? It also happens when it comes to the love of official Kiev for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). I will give the floor to the representative of the “ardent hero-lover” - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba: “We are grateful to our partners - NATO - for the constant confirmation of the open door policy based on the decision of the 2008 Bucharest summit. But 13 years have passed since then, and not a single step has been taken towards the implementation of this decision ... It is very important for Ukraine that the policy of open doors does not turn into a policy of feeding on promises. "

Standard story - promised to marry, but did not marry. And, I dare to assure, he will not marry. In the one-sided romance of official Kiev with the NATO bloc, Ukraine's place is in the friend zone, and only there. Of course, I will not dare to say that everything is completely hopeless there. At a joint press conference with the OSCE Secretary General in Kiev this week, Dmitry Kuleba spoke about the official meeting of the leaders of NATO countries, which is to take place next month: "How can you not find a format for Ukraine's participation in this year's summit!"

Go for it, Dmitry Ivanovich, go for it! If you are interested in “any format of Ukraine’s participation in some NATO summit in any year”, then remember these lines from Mikhail Lomonosov’s ode on the day of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna's accession to the All-Russian throne: “Science feeds young men, gives joy to the old, in a happy life they decorate, in an accident they take care of ”. You will surely break off something at some future get-together of the leaders of the NATO countries. Hearing your tearful prayers, they will find a special “format for participation in the summit” for you.

But now, excuse me, I am again for peace. An introductory tour to the registry office with a close inspection of all local attractions is not at all tantamount to registering a legal marriage. But a legal marriage with NATO, alas and ah, does not shine from the official Kiev at all. Why am I saying this with such confidence? Because the current Ukrainian authorities were told about this almost in plain text, but they chose not to notice it. Remember last year's scandal related to the visit to Kiev of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell?

If you don't remember, I remind you. Describing to the public his conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the man who is called “the main European diplomat” used, among other things, the following wording: “As I told the president, the European Union is not a charitable organization or an ATM.” The Ukrainian public did not appreciate Josep Borrell's frankness and was offended. The retired Spanish foreign minister realized that he had gone too far in his frankness. The search phrase has disappeared from Borrell's official blog. But, as they say, what is written with a pen, you cannot cut it out with an ax. And it doesn't matter that Borrell wrote not with a pen, but using a computer keyboard. The phrase coming from the very heart of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy still sounded. Everyone heard and saw her. Everyone remembered her.

Of course, I am aware that the European Union and NATO are not exactly the same thing.

But if the EU is “not an ATM,” then the North Atlantic Alliance is not an ATM squared or even cubed.

Kiev expects to use NATO in its own interests - as a battering ram against Russia.

That is why I said that the love of the current Ukrainian government for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is based on calculation.

But calculation does not negate naivety.

And the naivety of the official Kiev in this matter is simply amazing.

NATO has its own calculation with regard to Ukraine. And this calculation does not include at all dragging chestnuts out of the fire for the official Kiev. There is simply no need for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. If you let Ukraine go beyond the front of the alliance, then, God forbid, it will drag NATO into an open conflict with Russia. And NATO is absolutely not satisfied with this prospect. Talking about the fact that one of the two main nuclear powers in the world should talk in the language of force is a master in Brussels. Former Minister of Defense of Germany, and now President of the European Commission, Ursula Gertrude von der Leyen, this is, one might say, a favorite saying. But sometimes words are just words.

NATO does not want to try Russia "by the teeth".

It is important for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that official Kiev constantly hangs out in its reception and persistently knocks on the door.

NATO already has this, but the alliance does not need anything more.

It is a pity that the current authorities of Ukraine cannot come to this simple idea.

But official Kiev is not alone in its delusions.

If everything were different, then the friend zones of the whole world would be 100% empty.

The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.