Ukraine should not have too high expectations from the NATO summit in June, but should push for its issue to be included in the “NATO 2030” strategy
Alexander Vershbow, an American diplomat, former US ambassador to Russia and former Deputy Secretary General of NATO, said.
“I believe that Ukraine is acting correctly when it pushes NATO to fulfil its promises. At the same time, Ukraine should not have too high expectations of the summit in June. We should see the next few years as a period of new opportunities. We have a new administration in Washington that is unequivocally committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence, willing to provide more military support than it did during the administrations of [former presidents Barack] Obama or [Donald] Trump to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to deter further Russian aggression, which is now an immediate threat”, – Vershbow said.
According to the diplomat, over time, this administration would be willing to support Ukraine to “move forward” with NATO integration. He said this could be the inclusion of Ukraine and Georgia in the “NATO 2030” strategy and a review of Alliance policy following the June summit.
Vershbow said countries must do their “homework” to meet membership criteria, but such work must also be done by the Alliance: to determine how countries with part of their territory under occupation can be protected by guarantees under Article 5 of the NATO Treaty.
“As part of Strategy 2030, NATO must determine how to integrate the defence systems of Ukraine and Georgia into NATO systems, what forces and means are needed to do so, and what policies may be needed in response to Russia’s response. We did a good job of this when we started the enlargement process in the late 1990s. So the Alliance should have an integration plan, and I believe that taking steps to include these issues in Strategy 2030 will be the right thing to do.”