Dozens of foreign policy experts urged NATO members in a letter on Wednesday to avoid pushing the issue of Ukraine's membership at next week's NATO summit. They believe that a "bridge to NATO" would jeopardize the United States and its allies and lead to a breakdown of the coalition. The content of the experts' letter was published by Politico, reports UNN.
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According to the group of experts, if Ukraine is accepted into NATO, a Russian attack on Ukraine in the future would trigger NATO Article 5, which calls on allies to defend a member that is under attack.
It is noted that the Article 5 argument is common among those who oppose Ukraine's membership in NATO. However, such a public position of more than 60 analysts allows us to look at the arguments that are likely to be heard during the three-day summit, which begins on July 9.
"The closer NATO gets to the promise that Ukraine will join the Alliance after the war, the greater the incentive for Russia to continue the war," the letter, obtained by Politico, reads. It also notes that "the challenges posed by Russia can be met without Ukraine joining NATO.
The document says that Ukraine's push for NATO membership could backfire by "turning Ukraine into a place of protracted showdown between the world's two leading nuclear powers" and playing into the hands of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
Зеленський розповів, чи обговорюється вступ України до НАТО за "німецькою моделлю"04.07.24, 13:28
The letter was organized by William Ruger, President of the American Institute for Economic Research, and Steven Wertheim, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Other analysts, as noted, disagree. Last week, researchers at the RAND Corp. wrote that the allies would benefit if they offered Ukraine clarity on the terms of its future membership at the summit. The Atlantic Council has also been pushing for Ukraine's membership in NATO, arguing that it would prove to Kyiv that Western support will not wane.
In today's article in Foreign Affairs magazine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg did not speak directly about Ukraine's membership, but mentioned Kyiv's future in the Alliance and concerns about it: "We want to make it clear that we are in this for the long haul. Increasing our support does not make NATO a party to this conflict.
According to US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Douglas Jones, NATO will offer Ukraine "concrete ways" to accelerate its future membership in the North Atlantic Alliance during next week's summit in Washington.