Ukraine will not be able to become a NATO member within its current borders, said the former Deputy Foreign Minister of the country, Oleksandr Chaly.
In an interview with the Khvylya channel, the diplomat said that the Declaration on the Proclamation of Ukraine’s Sovereignty of 1990 was based on two principles, which are in a single package – neutrality and nuclear disarmament.
“When we received guarantees, we received guarantees from five members of the UN Security Council with nuclear weapons,” Chaly explained.
“A fantastic, constructive path opened before us, if we had gone, we would never have had 14 years. That is, to base our policy on the Budapest Memorandum,” the diplomat continued.
However, having signed this document, Ukraine “forgot” about it and in the mid-1990s adopted a course towards integration into NATO, Chaly added.
“That is, we have adopted a different concept of security, that our security will be ensured by our membership in NATO. These are two completely different concepts that do not take off together,” he explained.
The former deputy foreign minister also said that Ukraine would not be able to join the North Atlantic Alliance with the entire current territory.
“In practice, we cannot be in it by definition, due to our geopolitical position. Or, to be more precise, but then with a completely different territory than the one that we have within the borders of 1991,” Chaly said.
He added that this state of affairs is due to the balance of power, and not international law.
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in December 2014 amended two laws, abandoning the non-aligned status of the state. In February 2019, the parliament of the republic adopted amendments to the constitution, securing the country’s course towards the EU and NATO. Ukraine became the sixth state to receive the status of a partner of the bloc with expanded opportunities.
Former secretary general of the alliance Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier that in order to join the organization, Ukraine will need to achieve a number of criteria, the implementation of which will take a lot of time. Experts believe that Kiev will not be able to apply for NATO membership in the next 20 years.