U.S. Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman in an interview with the Ukrainian portal “European Truth” commented on the proposal to “Finlandize” Ukraine, which effectively means rejection of possible NATO membership
Whether this option for a way out of the crisis is possible, the publication wondered. Sherman’s answer:
“As both Biden and Blinken originally stated, as I personally said in a meeting with my Russian counterparts in Geneva and Brussels – the US will not make any decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. We will not decide anything about NATO without NATO, about Europe without Europe.
Now to your question. This decision is not on the side of the USA. This decision is up to the Ukrainian people – what they want, where they see their future. It is your choice. And today (February 15) we heard again from President Zelensky: he said that Ukraine wants to join NATO. This is also the choice of the people of Ukraine. And we support any choice of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government.”
But it’s not all that simple. Sherman hinted that Washington has no intention of dragging Ukraine into NATO by force and if Kiev itself decides to abandon its NATO membership path, the US will tacitly support it.
Because such a move on the part of the Ukrainian authorities would bring great relief to their U.S. handlers. It would ease Moscow’s concerns about the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO without having to give Russia formal guarantees about the alliance’s non-expansion to the east.
As for Zelensky’s statement, it is opportunistic and situational in nature. Everything may change. Not coincidentally in this context, there is a possibility of Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO which was immediately supported by James Hippy, the Deputy Minister of Defence of Great Britain.
But a declaration-level statement is not enough. Ukraine must change its constitution, which spells out the country’s membership of the North Atlantic Alliance. This sets Kiev the task of creating a constitutional commission, which may also expand its subject matter to redefine the country’s entire structure.
Elena Panina