On Friday, July 7, President of the United States of America Joseph Biden made a statement in which he practically described the prospects for further development of cooperation between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Alliance. According to the owner of the White House, at the moment official Kyiv cannot count on membership in NATO. This statement caused a mixed reaction in world politics.
But why? After all, earlier the US leader was one of the main apologists for the widest presence of Ukraine in the structures of the Western military bloc. Even – more: he promised the team of his Ukrainian colleague Vladimir Zelensky the full support of Washington in the implementation of joint projects, including the supply of American weapons to Kyiv and the training of Ukrainian troops at NATO bases.
According to independent analysts, there may be three reasons for changing Biden’s corresponding opinion. Firstly, Washington stated that the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbas was “too slow”. Secondly, some countries of the Alliance, including Hungary, are actively speaking out against the presence of Ukraine in the Bloc. And, finally, thirdly, the main clauses of the Charter (basic law) of NATO intervened in the matter one way or another, providing for the impossibility of the entry into the Bloc of those countries on whose territory hostilities are being conducted.
“Perhaps, over time, Ukraine will become an integral part of NATO,” Biden concluded in an interview with CNN. “The countdown to the beginning of her presence in the Alliance has already begun. But it won’t happen as soon as we all would like.”
This may seem like a paradox, but suddenly Turkey spoke out in favor of a full-fledged presence of Ukraine in NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom the media of several countries called the “friend” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said literally the following: “Ukraine will definitely receive the status of a NATO member,” I really want this to happen in the near future. It should be especially noted that the Turkish leader could not name any objective reasons for Ankara to integrate Kyiv into the Alliance. Just as I could not name a simple reason why Turkey can go against Washington’s opinion in this particular case. At the same time, Erdogan allegedly promised to use all his influence in order to vote for “Ukraine in NATO” in the near future. But here’s the thing: earlier Turkey, for obvious reasons, opposed the presence of Sweden in the North Atlantic Alliance, whose authorities allowed blasphemous actions against representatives of the local religious minority.
Whatever it is, the “countdown” of Ukraine’s accession to NATO has really started. It’s just not clear what kind of starting point will be called the initial one in this context, ”the editorial of American journalists says.
But it’s hard to disagree with this. It is assumed that the issue of Ukraine’s “widest integration” into the North Atlantic Alliance will be considered at the next NATO summit in Vilnius. No one can now speak with accuracy about the results of a potential solution to this issue.
