Ukraine's entry into NATO is beneficial for both Kiev and Brussels, since the country's entry into the military bloc will only "strengthen" it.

This statement was made by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel-General Ruslan Khomchak in his address on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the establishment of the North Atlantic Alliance.

“The entry of our state into NATO will strengthen not only Ukraine - it will also strengthen the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In recent years, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have become a real shield of Europe, and our country has become an active participant in Euro-Atlantic security, ”Khomchak said.

He also expressed the opinion that the events of 2014 - the entry of Crimea into Russia and the beginning of the conflict in Donbass - “united the Ukrainians” and convinced them of the need for the country to join the North Atlantic Alliance.

“Today, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are actively cooperating with NATO in all key areas of defense reform.

We effectively use the mechanisms and instruments of cooperation available to partner states, which deepened with our country receiving the status of a partner with expanded capabilities, ”the head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

  • Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Colonel-General Ruslan Khomchak

  • AFP

  • © Genya Savilov

Khomchak added that the main areas of cooperation between NATO and Ukraine include cooperation in the Black Sea region, participation in the exercises of the alliance "on the subject of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty" (which provides for the principle of collective defense), exchange of information, as well as the expansion of Ukrainian representation in military command bodies NATO.

According to a RT source in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the optimism of the country's army leadership is based on a recent conversation between President Volodymyr Zelensky and White House head Joe Biden. 

“The country's leadership hopes that the new US president will raise Ukraine's status in relations with NATO.

To this end, the leaders of Ukraine use various arguments from their readiness to coordinate all important actions with Washington to talking about "Russian aggression."

The reaction of our American partners to such statements is still unknown.

But it is unlikely that there will be enough statements, ”the source said.

In turn, a senior RT source in the Armed Forces of Ukraine noted that Khomchak's words make many military specialists in Ukraine smile, not to mention NATO.

“There is a war going on in Ukraine, it is dangerous to supply it with weapons because of the high level of corruption, and the country's leadership periodically makes contradictory statements.

I wonder how Ukraine will strengthen NATO?

Will pull the whole alliance into war?

So far, the country does not protect Europe from Russia, but only creates difficulties for partners, "- said the representative of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

  • NATO exercises Rapid Trident 2018 in Ukraine

  • globallookpress.com

  • © Markiian Lyseiko

According to the head of the regional security sector of the RISS Center for Defense Studies, Sergei Ermakov, the words of the commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine pursue the same goal as the previous statements of Ukrainian officials about the country's desire to join NATO.

“This is just another attempt at wishful thinking.

Ukrainian politicians and the military have long been using any pretext to declare their Euro-Atlantic ambitions, ”the expert noted in a commentary on RT.

In turn, RANEPA teacher Sergei Margulis also reacted skeptically to the theses voiced by Khomchak.

“Ukraine cannot be a shield for NATO; rather, it is a source of problems for it.

And it cannot strengthen the alliance, especially if we take into account the fact that it has territorial claims against Russia with a destroyed defense industry and a weak army, "the interlocutor of RT explained.

Path without destination

Let us remind you that cooperation between Kiev and NATO began immediately after the collapse of the USSR and the proclamation of an independent Ukraine.

In 1991, the country joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, and in 1994 - the Partnership for Peace program.

In 1997, the parties signed the Charter on a Special Partnership, which became the basis for the establishment of the NATO-Ukraine Commission (NUC).

Fundamentally, the prospects for Ukraine's integration into NATO were announced following the results of the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest.

  • Participants of the NATO summit in Bucharest, 2008

  • AFP

  • © Francois Lenoir

Since then, excluding the period of Viktor Yanukovych's rule, Ukraine has been heading towards integration into NATO.

These sentiments intensified after the events of 2014, when, as a result of a coup d'etat, radical pro-Western forces came to power in Ukraine.

In 2017, the Ukrainian Rada adopted a law securing the country's course towards membership in the North Atlantic Alliance as a strategic foreign policy goal.

In 2019, this course was also fixed in the corresponding constitutional amendments.

In June 2020, Ukraine was admitted to NATO's Expanded Opportunities Partnership.

Ukraine also regularly takes part in NATO exercises.

However, Kiev has not yet received the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP).

The plan is a program of specific actions that a country needs to follow in order to join the alliance.

In February 2021, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NATO head Jens Stoltenberg that getting the MAP is the immediate goal of Kiev, and also stressed that the Ukrainian side is serious about reforms.

However, the leadership of the North Atlantic bloc confined itself in response to the usual phrases about "open doors" for Ukraine.

Maximum possible level

In March, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olga Stefanishina, said that the country expects to receive a response to the request for Ukraine to receive the MAP.

However, a RT source in the Servant of the People party believes that Ukraine will never become a NATO member, and talking about this is self-deception for Kiev.

“What can we talk about if US President Joe Biden is forced to persuade his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to carry out reforms in his own country?

What kind of NATO can we talk about?

Together with Ukraine, the alliance will get so many problems that it will not be happy to have contacted it, ”the source said.

  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

  • Reuters

  • © Gleb Garanich

Sergey Ermakov adheres to a similar point of view.

According to the expert, the only role that NATO is ready to assign to Ukraine is the role of an instrument for containing Russia.

“The alliance appreciates that Ukraine provides its insignificant resources for this, primarily territorial ones.

But everyone understands that the country's admission to NATO will increase the risks for all members of the alliance and the degree of uncertainty in the security sphere.

Such a decision would complicate the collective defense of the alliance, since many fear that Kiev will try to drag NATO into a direct military conflict, ”the expert explained.

Therefore, the North Atlantic Alliance does not consider Ukraine as a full member, but builds a special partnership with it, Yermakov added.

“We see that cooperation between Kiev and NATO is growing, the parties regularly participate in joint exercises.

However, at the same time, no one names specific mechanisms and ways to grant Ukraine full membership, ”the analyst said.

Sergey Margulis agrees with this assessment.

According to him, the alliance is deliberately dragging out the issue of Ukraine's possible accession to NATO, since the country's admission to the military bloc can create big problems for it.

“Firstly, Article 5 of the NATO treaty obliges the alliance to provide assistance to a participating country subjected to aggression.

And in the West, rhetoric about the allegedly unceasing aggression of Russia against Ukraine is constantly heard.

Accordingly, the country's accession to NATO can put the alliance in a difficult situation and create problems and risks for it.

The level of support that the West is currently providing to Ukraine is the maximum possible.

NATO will not intervene directly for Ukraine, nor will it accept it as a member, ”the expert summed up.