According to the influential German newspaper, Zelensky’s claim that joining NATO will end the Russian war in eastern Ukraine has nothing to do with reality.
As UNIAN writes, the journalists of the Süddeutsche Zeitung believe that the desire of Ukraine, facing the threat of a real, not a fictitious war with Russia, to become a NATO member is understandable, but hopeless.
“Zelensky’s claim that joining NATO will end the Russian war in eastern Ukraine has nothing to do with reality. It would be more correct to say that there would be no war in the east of Ukraine, and Moscow would not have occupied Crimea if Ukraine became a NATO member in 1999 or during the second wave of expansion in Eastern Europe in 2004”, – the article says.
The publication notes that such a historic opportunity was missed due to Ukraine’s reluctance to reform its own country, including the army, to bring it up to NATO standards.
“Even today, Ukraine is drowning in nepotism and corruption”, – German journalists state.
“The end of the seven-year war in eastern Ukraine is still not visible. Despite cheap statements of solidarity with Kiev, no one is thinking about accepting Ukraine into NATO with this unresolved conflict. And this will not change in the near future, no matter how bitter it may sound for Ukrainians”.