Ukraine has accepted that NATO membership is off the table, and will not take any further steps toward joining the US-led military alliance, Igor Zhovkva, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, told the Financial Times on Saturday. Nevertheless, Kiev wants a say in NATO’s policies.
NATO leaders are set to meet in the Spanish capital of Madrid next week, and during two days of meetings and consultations, the alliance will unveil its Strategic Concept – a document that outlines the alliance’s mission and stance toward non-members, including China and Russia.
Zhovkva told the Financial Times that Zelensky’s government wants the alliance to acknowledge that Ukraine is “a cornerstone of European security,” and to reaffirm its partnership with Kiev, first established in 1997.
European Union puts Ukraine on a path toward EU membership World Jun 23, 2022 2:59 PM EDT
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union agreed Thursday to put Ukraine on a path toward EU membership, acting with uncharacteristic speed and unity to pull the embattled country further away from Russia’s influence and bind it more closely to the West.
Meeting at a summit in Brussels, leaders of the EU’s 27 nations mustered the required unanimous approval to grant Ukraine candidate status. That sets in motion a process that could take years or even decades.
The EU also granted candidate status to the tiny country of Moldova, another former Soviet state that borders Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pronounced it a “good day for Europe.”
EU membership, and NATO membership are two different things. If anything, Putin has publicly proclaimed that he has no problem with Ukraine’s EU membership. Also, it will be a very long time before they are admitted fully into EU. Turkey applied in 1987 and is yet to granted full membership.
