"Allies agree that the future of Ukraine is in NATO." NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has thus opened the doors of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to Ukraine, adding that the process is "irreversible."
In the press conference prior to the start of the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting, the first chaired by Rutte and also the first after the electoral victory of Donald Trump, the former Dutch Prime Minister has outlined what some voices within the Alliance are already indicating: that Ukraine should become part of the Organization. Without a timetable yet, far from it, but with different options and steps.
The first step is to continue supporting the country, because currently Russia has the initiative and it is necessary for Ukraine to regain it so that, when possible peace talks take place, the Ukrainian nation is in a position of strength. Because yes, it is increasingly taken for granted that negotiations will happen sooner rather than later.
"Ukraine does not need more ideas about what a peace process might look like, what it needs is to reach a position of strength for when those peace talks begin, when the Ukrainian government has decided they are ready to do so," Rutte stated.
Then, in the future, the possible entry into NATO would come, something that Volodimir Zelenski is pushing for. "We are convinced that the only real security guarantee for Ukraine, as a deterrent against further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other states, is Ukraine's full membership in NATO," the country's Foreign Ministry stated in a press release.
And almost immediately, came Russia's response. The spokesperson for Vladimir Putin's government stated that Ukraine's potential accession to NATO is "unacceptable" for the country, as reported by AFP. "It would represent a threatening event for us," he added.
In addition to Russia's reservations, there is also the position that Trump will take. During the electoral campaign, he promised to end the conflict within 24 hours, but he never mentioned NATO membership and it does not seem likely that he will facilitate it, precisely.
In this context, there are voices within the Alliance that support the German model that former Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen proposed some time ago: that Ukraine temporarily relinquish the part of its territory occupied in exchange for NATO membership.
The reference to Germany is made because West Germany joined NATO without East Germany, but Ukraine has already stated that they will not agree to give up the areas occupied by Russia. "With the bitter experience we had with the Budapest Memorandum, we will not accept any alternative, substitute, or replacement for Ukraine's full membership in NATO," they emphasized on Tuesday from Kiev.