Related news
NATO has welcomed maximum coldness the request of the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to join the club in response to the escalation of the Kremlin war. In contrast to the enthusiastic welcome given to Sweden and Finland just a few months ago, the allies have made it clear that Ukraine’s accession is not a priority at the moment. The integration of kyiv would actually mean entering into direct conflict with Russiasomething that NATO wants to avoid at all costs.
“Every democracy has the right to apply for NATO membership, and we respect Ukraine’s right to do so. NATO’s doors remain open and we have shown it. At the Madrid summit, the allies made it clear that we support Ukraine’s right to choose their path, to decide what kind of security alliance they want to be in,” said NATO’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenbergin response to Zelensky’s request.
“The decision must be made by the 30 allies by consensus. Our focus now is to give immediate support to Ukraine to help him fend off the brutal Russian invasion. This is the top priority right now,” Stoltenberg stressed.
[La OTAN enfría la solicitud de entrada de Ucrania: “Nuestra prioridad es dar apoyo inmediato a Kiev”]
The secretary general wanted to make it clear in several passages of the press conference that NATO “is not a party to the conflict” and does not want an even greater escalation of the war. “We support Ukraine, but that does not make us part of the conflict”has insisted.
The president of United States, Joe Biden, has also warned that Putin’s improper annexation of Ukrainian territories is a sign that “he is weakened.” Likewise, he has alerted his Russian counterpart that will defend “every inch” of all the territory included within the limits of NATO.
Should the kyiv government refrain from acting in the annexed territories to avoid the risk of Russia using nuclear weapons? “Ukraine has the right to retake Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces. That is why we support them, so that they can defend themselves but also continue to liberate territory. Illegal annexation changes nothing,” Stoltenberg replies.
Forcing Ukraine to back down now would mean accepting “nuclear blackmail” from the Kremlin and allowing “authoritarian powers like Russia to get what they want by threatening to use nuclear weapons.” “Russia must understand that a nuclear war can never be won and must not be fought. Using nuclear weapons would have serious consequences for Russia and that has been very clearly communicated to Russia“, explained the Secretary General of NATO.
The integration of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson “implies the largest annexation of European territory by force since the Second World War”. Ukraine has occupied “at gunpoint” another 15% of Ukraine’s territory, an area the size of Portugal, Stoltenberg notes. “This theft of territory is illegal and illegitimate. NATO allies do not and will not recognize this territory as part of Russia. This territory is Ukraine.”
[La OTAN avisa a Putin de “consecuencias sin precedentes” si usa armas nucleares en Ucrania]
In the opinion of the Alliance, the annexation of territories, the partial mobilization decreed by the Kremlin and its nuclear rhetoric represent the “most serious escalation” since the outbreak of the invasion on February 23. “It shows not strength but weakness. It is an admission that the war is not going according to plan and that Putin has failed in his strategic goals,” Stoltenberg said.
