NATO says allies 'agree Ukraine will become a member' but Kyiv must prevail against Russia

Ukraine will become a member of the Western Defensive Alliance but the primary concern, at this time, is that the country must prevail against Russian aggression, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation [NATO] chief Jens Stoltenberg said at a presser on Thursday, April 20. Speaking ahead of the meeting of the Ukraine defence contact group at Ramstein air base in Germany, NATO's chief reiterated that once the ongoing hostilities in the eastern Donbass region cease, Ukraine will have "the deterrence to prevent new unprecedented attacks" as country reserves the fundamental right to defend itself.

Since the full-scale war on Ukraine waged earlier, last year, NATO has provided an estimated 150 billion euros ($165 billion) of support, of which 65 billion euros comprises the military package. 

NATO chief made his first-ever visit to Ukraine this week since the Russian invasion. During the visit, he pledged North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's continued support, all the while declaring, that Kyiv's future “is in NATO." Stoltenberg discussed “multiyear support initiative” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to transition the war-ravaged nation out of the Soviet-era obsolete military equipment.

Stoltenberg maintained that he would ensure that the combat equipment adheres to the doctrine of NATO's standards, adding that this would “ensure full interoperability with the alliance." While the defensive bloc has played a critical role in bolstering Ukraine's defences against Russia's unprovoked invasion and has condemned the military intervention "in strongest possible terms," it clarified that NATO is not in direct confrontation with Russia. NATO, however, insists that a strong, independent Ukraine is vital for the stability of the entire Euro-Atlantic area. Ties between NATO and Ukraine date back to the early 1990s and strengthened in 2014 as Russia annexed Crimea.

Jens Stoltenberg in Ukraine. Credit: AP

"Let me be clear, Ukraine's rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic family," Stoltenberg said at a news conference. "Ukraine's rightful place is in NATO," he further insisted. 

Putin's spokesperson reminds goal of 'special military operation': NATO deterrence 

In response to the NATO chief's comments on incorporating its neighbour into the Western military bloc, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a state press call that prohibiting Kyiv from joining NATO remains one of the key goals of what Russia's President Putin labels as the "special military operation." Kremlin justified that the war in Ukraine dragged on for two years as the operation morphed into a broader confrontation with the 31-member state North Atlantic Alliance. United States-led NATO and its European members have flared and "stretched out" the conflict due to its unprecedented effort of isolating Moscow and pumping weapons with a goal to "defeat the Russian Federation." 

"It began as an operation against the Ukrainian regime and continues, in fact, as a war against NATO, with the de facto involvement of many countries of the alliance including the United States," Putin's spokesperson, Peskov said at state briefing. 

Peskov also separately claimed in an interview with the Russian Izvestia newspaper that NATO countries "are effectively showing a united front not as Russia manoeuvre enemies, but as adversaries." "Their intel has been working against us round the clock, while their weapons, as Putin said in a recent interview, are being supplied to Ukraine for free to shoot at our military," he asserted.

Why can't Ukraine join NATO while at war with Russia?

In retrospect, Russia's illegal annexation of the four Ukrainian regions -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia -- that Putin declared are "Russia forever" prompted Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to push for a fast-tracked bid to join the NATO military alliance. NATO member states, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro and North Macedonia, strongly supported Ukraine's NATO bid. Several other members argue that Kyiv has received financial and military benefits from NATO even without membership, and exceptionally, it may be beneficial such as in the case of Kosovo, which has been supported by NATO peacekeepers since the late 1990s. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds an application for ''accelerated accession to NATO'' in Kyiv, Ukraine. Credit: AP/Ukrainian Presidential Press Office

US security adviser Jake Sullivan, however, at a White House presser, warned about the "escalatory risks" of incorporating Ukraine as he demanded that the application should be postponed as it might provoke a broader regional conflict. If Ukraine joins NATO while it is at war with Russia, it would imply a nightmare scenario as the military will be pitched in due to an "ironclad" agreement of collective defenses. Article 5 of NATO’s collective defence agreement stated that if one member state is under attack, it means that all the others are under the threat and will be obligated to come to their ally's aid militarily with troops.

In May, Finland, which held neutral status previously, joined the Alliance dismissing the military nonalignment for protection under the organisation's security umbrella. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö submitted an application to join the alliance after Russia's invaded Ukraine.