Ukraine must restore its sovereignty before joining NATO - NATO PA President Connolly

NATO Parliamentary Assembly President Gerry Connolly said that Ukraine is on an irreversible path to membership in the Alliance, but needs to restore its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Connolly said this in an interview with Radio Liberty, UNN reports.

Details

There is a war going on right now. I think we have to resolve that, we have to restore Ukraine's sovereignty over its territories, and then make sure that the path to NATO is open. I think that NATO has been very clear, and my government, the U.S. government, has been very clear, that we welcome the idea of Ukraine joining NATO. What we call the “inevitable path” to this membership. I understand some of the haste and impatience on the part of Ukrainians - I would have liked to have become a NATO member yesterday. But we have, of course, a difficult and tragic situation in Ukraine. And this is the presence of Russian troops and the Russian occupation. This has to be resolved

He noted that the best case scenario for Ukraine's accession to NATO envisages the accession of all of Ukraine after the war is over and its territorial integrity is fully restored.

I would say that this is the best way forward. Is it the only way - maybe not. We don't know what the outcome of this struggle will be, but we know what we hope for. And that's why NATO and the U.S. government have committed significant resources and partnered with our brothers and sisters in Ukraine to ensure that they stand up and regain full sovereignty over their entire territory

According to him, U.S. President Joe Biden is sympathetic to Ukraine's aspirations, including NATO membership, but he will not take any concrete action in this direction without consulting other NATO allies.

Again, he is focused on priorities. And the first priority is to end the violence committed by the Russians on the Ukrainian territories. Let's not lose focus on this priority goal. Support President Zelensky, support the Ukrainian army, the Ukrainian people to win this fight. And from my point of view, it should be the whole, the whole of Ukraine - with the east of Ukraine, the south of Ukraine and Crimea

In addition, he emphasized that Putin's decision to invade Ukraine was a miscalculation at almost all levels.

The intention was to march into Ukraine and establish a puppet regime within two weeks. What happened? It's been more than two and a half years and the Ukrainian army is wearing the Russians down

Recall

Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna said that Ukraine will be invited to join NATO within its 1991 borders as a sovereign and independent state, and that it will join the Alliance after the war is over.