'Ukraine is de facto member of NATO', claims Ukrainian Defence Minister

Ukraine has become a de facto member of NATO, Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's defense minister claimed in an interview with BBC. The development came despite NATO having earlier claimed that Kyiv's incorporation into the military alliance could be viewed as the escalation of the tensions with Russia.

However, on January 13, Reznikov noted that Ukraine being the de facto member of NATO would imply continuous weapon flow, and supply of tanks and fighter jets, ahead of the much-anticipated Russian spring offensive from the northern front. 

"This concern about the next level of escalation, for me, is some kind of protocol," Reznikov told the outlet in an interview.  "Ukraine as a country, and the armed forces of Ukraine, became [a] member of Nato. De facto, not de jure (by law). Because we have weaponry, and the understanding of how to use it," he added. 

A 'decisive step'

Defiant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had also earlier announced that Kyiv officially applied for membership into the Western military alliance NATO. The application came just hours after Russian President  Vladimir Putin announced in a ceremony that Kremlin was annexing four occupied Ukrainian regions.

Speaking in a recorded message outside his presidential office, Zelenskyy had noted that he was taking a “decisive step” in order to protect “the entire community” of Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian assaults.  The application, he said in the video,  would happen in an “expedited manner”.

“De facto, we have already made our way to NATO. De facto, we have already proven compatibility with alliance standards. They are real for Ukraine – real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our interaction,” said Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “We trust each other, we help each other, and we protect each other. This is the alliance. De facto. Today, Ukraine is applying to make it de jure," he added. 

In a more skeptical tone, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton said during an interview with French TV channel BFM had said that  Ukraine’s NATO bid and its official membership into the Western military Alliance might not be successful for as long as it is engaged in the armed conflict and hostilities with Russia. Breton labelled the conflict with Russia as a "disqualifying" factor for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's NATO application. EU Commissioner Thierry Breton argued that to apply for NATO membership, "You must not be a country at war." He furthermore stressed that NATO accessions are made "when the countries are at peace." Ths is because the entire Alliance would be dragged into the conflict otherwise, he noted. As “Ukraine is, alas, a country at war, its NATO membership is a symbolic, political demand,” Breton argued.