"Ally, Member or Partner? NATO's Old Dilemma over Ukraine", with this headline The New York Times began its report, noting that NATO had promised Ukraine full membership in 2008, which Russia considered a potential threat to its borders And an infringement on the heart of its sphere of influence.
The newspaper's diplomatic correspondent, Stephen Erlanger, pointed out that this dilemma has been forming for many years, and that the alliance itself helped to form it.
In 2008, the alliance - which was established under the leadership of the United States to confront the Soviet Union - promised membership to two former Soviet republics, Ukraine and Georgia, but without specifying when or how.
From the start, some NATO countries have questioned whether the membership offer was a wise move, and it is not clear whether it will fulfill this promise, but as expected it has fueled a perennial conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium (Anatolia)
He said Ukraine is a partner in the alliance, but not a member of it, which means that it does not benefit from the base of NATO, the commitment to collective defense, even though Kiev has already sent troops to fight on NATO missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Therefore, with thousands of Russian troops amassed on Ukraine’s borders, the alliance is not obligated under the treaty to protect Ukraine militarily, and is unlikely to try, and this was evident from US President Joe Biden’s response yesterday, Wednesday, to a question about the possibility of sending American forces to Ukraine when He ruled that out flatly, telling reporters at the White House, "This is not on the table."
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, some in the West suggested dissolving NATO as well, but it expanded, and once it began, "it was hard to know when to stop," said Lawrence Friedman, professor emeritus of war studies at King's College in London.
Friedman suggested that it would be better if NATO had "finded other ways to support Georgia and Ukraine" rather than the promised membership, and Ukraine would most likely never be integrated into NATO "but we can't put that into a treaty" as Putin demands.
Still, it might be easier to give Putin the discussion he says he wants about the future of European security if it allays Russian concerns, Friedman said.