Virtually all member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance agree that Ukraine should join NATO, and this was allegedly confirmed at the summit of the bloc at the level of foreign ministers, which was held in Bucharest at the end of November.

Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, made such theses at the Kiev Security Forum.

“I can call it an unconditional positive that none of the countries of the alliance answered “no” to Ukraine.

In fact, all 30 NATO countries today officially - and this is already an official position following the results of the meeting in Bucharest - confirm that Ukraine will be a member of NATO, that Ukraine's application will be officially considered.

This is something we didn’t expect,” she said.

According to her, now the main task for Kyiv is to implement this decision at the alliance's summit in Vilnius in July 2023.

At the same time, the politician did not fail to recall that the Ukrainian authorities at the beginning of the Russian special operation were disappointed that NATO did not activate all available mechanisms to support them.

However, now in Kyiv they believe that there is no alternative to the North Atlantic Alliance in the context of security issues, she noted.

"Therefore, we made this decision - to appeal to the allies so that they consider the need to invite Ukraine to the alliance as a non-alternative scenario for restoring stability in Europe," Stefanishyna explained.

The politician also made a statement that the request for membership was allegedly dictated not by the desire to end the conflict, but by strategic calculations for the future.

  • Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Artur Widak/NurPhoto

Imaginary consensus

Meanwhile, in NATO, the statements of representatives of Kyiv about the alleged readiness of the bloc to soon accept Ukraine into its ranks are not yet confirmed.

Moreover, as Slovenian Foreign Minister Tania Fayon noted on the sidelines of the Bucharest summit on November 29, discussion of her entry into the bloc is not on the agenda.

“Slovenia adheres to a policy of openness to the entry of new members into NATO.

But there is a question of time - when and how ... Now the discussion of its membership is not "on the table", we are ready to discuss this when the time is right, ”RIA Novosti quotes the diplomat.

On the NATO website, the Ukrainian topic was also not designated as the main one at the last meeting.

According to a press release following the meetings, published on November 30, the main focus was on China and its challenges.

Support for non-bloc partners was also discussed, but there is no mention of discussions regarding Ukraine's accession to NATO.

Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, despite past statements about NATO's open doors, did not pay much attention to Ukrainian prospects in the bloc.

At a briefing on November 30, he only noted that the priority for NATO today is military and financial support for Ukraine in order to preserve it as an "independent" state.

“If Ukraine does not prevail as an independent sovereign state, then the question of membership will not stand at all ... A necessary condition for this question (about the country's membership in the alliance. -

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) to stand at all is the triumph of Ukraine, and in At the moment, we are helping Ukraine achieve it,” Stoltenberg said.

According to him, the bloc and Kyiv should develop a partnership that will supposedly strengthen the country and help it move from Soviet-era technology to modern NATO technical standards.

“This will increase interoperability, but it will also help Ukraine get closer to obtaining membership status,” Stoltenberg added.

  • NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Gustavo Valiente/Europa Press

Stefanyshina's statements about a "consensus" in NATO regarding Ukraine's membership calls into question Hungary's position on this issue, political analysts say.

Budapest opposes both the country's inclusion in the bloc and the participation of its representatives in official NATO sessions.

The reason for this is the long-standing conflict of the parties over the situation of ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia.

Recall that relations between the countries escalated back in 2017, when the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law on education, according to which teaching in the country from 2020 should be conducted exclusively in Ukrainian.

In Budapest, they believe that such a decree violates the rights of the Hungarian minority.

Against this background, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said that the republic stops supporting any initiatives of Ukraine in the international arena.

This position is still adhered to in Budapest, blocking Ukraine's participation in NATO events.

“The Hungarian government will not agree to hold an official meeting of the NATO-Ukraine commission until the rights of the Hungarians of Transcarpathia are restored,” Szijjarto said on November 29 on the sidelines of the bloc’s summit.

In addition, in his opinion, there is a place in the alliance only for those countries that strengthen the security of allies in the bloc, and not vice versa.

“NATO reaffirmed its open door policy, but it is obvious that any of the countries can join the military alliance only if (its membership. -

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) does not threaten, but only strengthens the security of current participants,” the minister explained.

In Kyiv, the existence of disagreements with Hungary is recognized, considering, however, the actions of Budapest unlawful.

As Olga Stefanishina stated at the Kiev Security Forum, the rest of the bloc members should force Hungary to change its position.

“If one country can block the discussion of the allies with Ukraine, this means that in fact there is no alliance and no unity, these are just formalities,” she said.

  • Hungarian girls in national costumes

  • AFP

  • © Daniel MIHAILESCU

At the same time, according to her, NATO allegedly intends to use instruments of political pressure against Hungary.

“If before the start (SVO. -

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) it was a discussion at the level that “we don’t want to interfere in your bilateral relations, resolve them, and then we can unlock the format at the highest level,” then today it is obvious that such a position of Hungary does not hold water and is absolutely incompatible with the challenges and issues that need to be discussed (within NATO. -

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),” Stefanishina said.

As a ram

Statements by the Ukrainian authorities about an alleged NATO consensus on the issue of the republic's membership in the bloc only indicate that representatives of the Kyiv regime wishful thinking, experts say.

“This is part of the information war, in order to support our own and, to some extent, demoralize the enemy.

However, all sane people understand that Ukraine's accession to NATO at this stage is impossible.

It is simply unsuitable for membership in the alliance, ”Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with RT.

In his opinion, NATO is only interested in the potential of Ukraine in its confrontation with Russia, which they can use without granting it membership.

“Of course, the alliance wants to bring its borders as close as possible to Russia, to gain access to the Black Sea in order to control this region.

However, for this it is not at all necessary to take into its ranks a country whose leadership is unpredictable in its actions.

It is enough just to have unhindered access to its territories, ”the analyst believes.

The deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation Nikita Danyuk, in turn, called Stefanishina's statements an information and propaganda move.

“The story of the unanimous approval by NATO members of Ukraine's membership in the alliance is a fake.

Because if the Deputy Prime Minister tells the truth about the impossibility for the country to join the alliance, then all the work of her department will crumble in the eyes of the townsfolk like a house of cards and undermine the credibility of the authorities.

Therefore, this is a deliberate dissemination of disinformation to reassure people, ”he said in a conversation with RT.

At the same time, the analyst believes that Russia will not allow the bloc status of Ukraine, and NATO will not be able to disregard whose opinion, despite all the statements about open doors.

In addition, in fact, the alliance does not really need Kyiv as a full-fledged partner.

“Because Ukraine is already 100% fulfilling what for all these years they have been trying to draw it into the orbit of North Atlantic influence.

She is a battering ram with which to inflict damage on Russia as an existential enemy, and even plays this role voluntarily and with enthusiasm.

You can compare Ukraine with kamikaze, who during the Second World War, at the cost of their lives, carried out the tasks assigned to them.

Therefore, NATO will continue to prefer to allocate military assistance to the country and use it for its own purposes, rather than taking responsibility for it, ”summed up Danyuk.