Ukraine needs to do more in the area of ​​reform to join NATO.

This was announced by Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg to the Washington Defense Writers Group.

“We have various programs to strengthen ethical foundations, which are largely devoted to the fight against corruption as part of the reforms ... which Ukraine has already begun, but we need more.

We with them (with the Ukrainians. -

RT

) need to do more to ensure their full implementation, "the Defense News publication quotes Stoltenberg's message.

According to him, in order to agree on a Membership Action Plan (MAP), a consensus of all 30 Allied countries is needed.

The Secretary General also noted that this was not the "main theme" of the recent NATO summit.

“Ukraine is a candidate country,” Stoltenberg said.

"We support it, especially for further modernization and improvement of its defense and security systems, civil and political control over its security services, and not least the fight against corruption."

Let us remind you that the NATO summit was held in Brussels on June 14.

As a result, a joint communiqué was published, in which the alliance countries confirmed the decision of the 2008 bloc, according to which Ukraine “will become a member of the alliance, and the MAP will be an integral part of the process”.

At the same time, the document does not indicate any exact dates or details regarding the country's plans to join the bloc.

However, there is a thesis that Ukraine "should make full use of all the tools available within the NATO-Ukraine Commission to achieve its goal of implementing the principles and standards" of the alliance.

“Of particular importance are further reforms in the security sector, including the reform of the Security Service of Ukraine,” the communiqué says.

It is worth noting that the Pentagon had previously called on the Ukrainian authorities to carry out "deep, comprehensive and timely reforms necessary to advance its Euro-Atlantic aspirations."

In particular, they talked about the adoption of legislation "which will clearly delineate the responsibilities of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

  • Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg

  • Reuters

  • © Kenzo Tribouillard

"The United States believes that it is vital to impose controls on foreign direct investment based on national security interests in order to protect Ukraine's key civil and defense infrastructure from foreign exploitation," the US Department of Defense said.

It was also noted that Kiev should continue to advance these reforms in order to "truly transform the armed forces of Ukraine and prepare the transition to a Western-style personnel policy."

Vision of Kiev

At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that his country deserves to be invited to NATO and become an equal member of the alliance.

He said this to reporters during the forum "Ukraine 30. Economy without oligarchs" in Kiev.

“Our military demonstrates the reliability and power of the army, it is ready to defend.

I communicated with the leaders about this, invited them to Donbass so that they could see the level.

We deserve to be members of the alliance if the alliance sees Ukraine among NATO members not behind the scenes, but at the table, ”Zelensky’s press service quotes.

According to the Ukrainian president, Kiev made a lot of efforts so that the leadership of the alliance confirmed the prospects of the country's admission to the bloc, and the union should objectively assess these Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

“I believe that Ukraine deserves more.

We deserve to be one of the equals in the alliance, among powerful countries.

We need to be invited - I think it's fair.

We shouldn't ask, ”Zelensky stressed.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on these words of the Ukrainian leader.

"And to be paid more, no?"

- she wrote on the Telegram channel.

Earlier, on June 4, Zelensky, in an interview with the American portal Axios, said that the North Atlantic Alliance should "resolve immediately" the issue of Ukraine's admission to NATO.

According to him, the country currently needs help as it faces a "threat".

The President of Ukraine did not specify what he means.

“If NATO is waiting for us, if they really want our entry into the alliance, then there is no need to look through binoculars and discuss some distant future,” he said.

As Zelenskiy added, for all his "conviction that Ukraine will eventually join NATO," many Ukrainians "believe in this is weakening more and more."

The Ukrainian leader said that this is a "big problem."

It is worth noting that Zelensky also expressed his dissatisfaction with the attitude of the International Monetary Fund.

According to him, the organization is unfair to Ukraine, since it puts forward the same demands to it as to other countries.

  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

  • AFP

  • © CHARLES PLATIAU

“I think one cannot compare the strategy of the IMF's behavior with Ukraine with other countries.

Our country simply cannot be put on a par with others.

Because we have complexity, because there is a war going on.

Because money is spent not on priorities from the point of view of the economy, but from the point of view of security.

First the military, first medicine, then everything else, ”he said in an interview with a number of foreign news agencies.

"Ghostly Perspective"

As noted by the leading expert of the RISS Research Coordination Center, Sergei Ermakov, Stoltenberg's statement fits into NATO's position on Ukraine's entry into the alliance, which the block in gravel with the United States has been promoting recently.

“This statement of the Secretary General quite clearly indicates that the bloc's open door policy is maintained, but no one is going to accept Ukraine into the alliance in the future.

NATO once again recalled this, and also confirmed which partner Kiev is considered and how they see future relations with this country, "Ermakov said in an interview with RT.

According to him, by putting forward conditions for the Ukrainian authorities on reforms within the country in exchange for a "very illusive prospect" of membership in the bloc, Washington and NATO are actually giving Kiev homework.

“At the same time, the Ukrainian leadership is clearly not coping with it, especially in the field of combating corruption and transferring the entire defense sector to NATO standards.

For the countries of the alliance, the Ukrainian problem is in many ways a headache.

However, the bloc does not intend to refuse cooperation with Kiev, since it is beneficial to it from a geopolitical and strategic point of view.

NATO countries widely use the Ukrainian territory in their interests, as well as access to the necessary infrastructure, intelligence data, which can then be turned against Russia, ”the expert said.

Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Zharikhin said, in turn, that NATO uses the conditions of joining the alliance as a "cover", which can always be referred to to explain why the country is not taken into the bloc.

“NATO is not ready to accept Ukraine into its membership.

At the same time, the alliance and Washington want to achieve full controllability on the part of the Ukrainian power structures, both civilian and military.

Therefore, under the banner of fighting corruption and other problems in the country, the West is introducing elements into the control system of Ukraine that are directly subordinate to the US State Department and the Pentagon, as well as NATO.

Thus, the process of liquidating Ukraine's sovereignty is underway, "Zharikhin said in a conversation with RT.

According to Ermakov, the bloc's promises to take Ukraine into its membership, as well as the situation around the IMF, demonstrate that the West is acting in the spirit of its geopolitical paradigms.

“At the same time, the leadership of Ukraine itself seeks to participate in this, positioning the country precisely as a state in need of external control, management and assistance.

This suggests that Ukraine itself is ready for limited desovereignization, ”the analyst believes.

  • NATO headquarters

  • Reuters

  • © YVES HERMAN

Zharikhin, in turn, stressed that the West has in many ways already been able to put the Ukrainian leadership under external control.

“For this, NATO and Washington do not even need to blackmail Kiev with something.

The Ukrainian authorities are already fulfilling all orders they receive from their Western colleagues to the best of their ability.

However, it is beneficial for the bloc and the United States to raise the bar so as not to be deprived of the official reason why the country is not yet worthy of membership in the alliance, ”the expert concluded.