NATO has no consensus on Ukraine becoming a full member, says Secy Gen Stoltenberg

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated that members of NATO do not agree on asking Ukraine to become a full member. As per the report of Axios on HBO, Stoltenberg stated on Sunday that that NATO's relationship with Ukraine has grown closer, but that there is still no consensus on inviting Ukraine to join the alliance as a full member.

Stoltenberg said that one must meet the requirements in order to join NATO. They assist Ukraine in coordinating anti-corruption efforts, but they need the 30 allies to agree. The North Atlantic Alliance has improved relations with Ukraine although the country is not covered by the organization's fifth article, which allows for collective defence, according to TASS.

US-Ukraine strategic charter was signed

Anatoly Antonov, Russia's ambassador to the United States said earlier this month that any plans for Ukraine to join NATO are too ambitious. A new US-Ukraine strategic charter was signed during a working visit to Washington by a Ukrainian team, and it includes a section confirming the US support for Kyiv's NATO aspirations. According to Pentagon commander, Lloyd Austin third parties have no power to veto Ukraine's NATO membership and Washington supports Kyiv's objectives.

NATO made a political declaration in Bucharest in April 2008, stating that Ukraine and Georgia will eventually join the organisation, but declined to furnish both countries with the Membership Action Plan (MAP), which is the first stage in the legal procedure for joining the organisation, according to TASS. NATO does not admit countries that have outstanding territorial disputes since their membership could lead to a military war involving the entire alliance.

Ukraine's Armed Forces will be completely compatible with NATO troops

The Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada enacted constitutional revisions in February 2019 that established Ukraine's NATO ambitions, using the phrase the irreversibility of the Euro-Atlantic trajectory. According to TASS, the military doctrine adopted in 2015 reflects the determination to ensure that by 2020, Ukraine's Armed Forces will be completely compatible with NATO troops. However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba remarked President Vladimir Zelensky's meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in late September and revealed that there is still no agreement on when Ukraine will receive the MAP.

(Inputs from ANI)

(Image: AP)