Foreign policy experts urged NATO countries not to promise Ukraine membership at the upcoming summit – Politico

Over 60 Western foreign policy experts have urged NATO countries not to promise Ukraine membership at the upcoming summit to avoid having to defend it against Russia under Article 5 in the future.

This was reported by Politico.

They believe that advancing Ukraine’s membership would endanger the U.S. and its allies and could fracture the coalition.

“The closer NATO gets to promising that Ukraine will join the alliance after the war ends, the more incentives Russia has to continue the war. The challenges posed by Russia can be addressed without involving Ukraine in NATO,” the analysts’ letter states.

They argue that moving Ukraine toward membership could have the opposite effect, “turning Ukraine into a site of prolonged confrontation between the world’s two leading nuclear powers” and playing into Putin’s narrative that it is a conflict between Russia and the West.

Other analysts disagree with this viewpoint. Last week, researchers from the influential Rand Corporation wrote that allies would benefit from offering Ukraine clarity about the conditions of its future membership at the summit. The Atlantic Council also insists on Ukraine’s NATO membership, arguing that it would demonstrate to Kyiv that Western support will not waver.

It is noteworthy that The Telegraph recently reported that at the upcoming summit, Ukraine will be told that it is too corrupt to join NATO.

In June, U.S. President Joe Biden indicated that he does not support Ukraine’s membership in NATO.