The United States is promoting Ukraine's membership in NATO because it believes it is the best guarantee of security for the country, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said. He also suggested that another “good guarantee” could be the presence of a European military contingent in Ukraine after a lasting peace agreement is concluded. This was reported by UNN with reference to Voice of America.
The U.S. Secretary of State pointed out that NATO membership and collective defense based on Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty are the most effective security guarantees, including for Ukraine.
When asked if the United States, Germany and some other NATO member states were standing in the way of Ukraine's accession, Blinken denied it. “No, we are not standing in the way. We have put Ukraine on the path to NATO membership. And successive NATO summits have been very clear about that,” the secretary of state said.
“For the first time in NATO's history, we have established a dedicated command to help Ukraine on this path, to take the practical steps that it needs to take - to continue to build and reform its military institutions, to continue to strengthen its democracy - that are necessary for membership. And we are moving Ukraine down this path. At the same time, in the end, I believe that yes, Ukraine will be and should be in NATO, and Article 5 is the best guarantee we have,” the Secretary of State said.
Blinken acknowledged that it would be difficult for Russia to accept Ukraine's accession to NATO, so other options for ensuring Ukraine's security in the future should also be considered, as NATO membership “is not the only way.” In his opinion, the possible deployment of European troops to the future demarcation line would be a good guarantee.
“For example, we have European countries that have talked about the possibility, if there is a ceasefire and a solution, of having some of their forces along the ceasefire line to patrol it, to protect it, to enforce it. This would also be a good guarantee,” Blinken said.
However, in the end, as Blinken emphasized, it is up to Ukraine to decide when and under what circumstances it will start negotiations with Russia, and what it considers a “just” peace.
“Ukrainians will decide for themselves what they want to do with this future. And what I think we're hearing from President Zelensky and others, as we've been hearing for some time now, is that they're very willing to engage in negotiations, but there has to be a fair outcome, and it has to be sustainable,” Blinken said. - “And it won't be lasting if it's not fundamentally fair, and it won't be lasting if it just opens the door for future Russian aggression in a year, two years, five years.
At the same time, the secretary of state explained that the Biden administration has not yet seen a meaningful desire for negotiations from Russia. Therefore, the United States saw no point in continuing to talk to Moscow during the war.