German Ambassador to NATO Rüdiger Koenig explained why the alliance is unable to respond to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s requests for help. He is quoted by Spiegel.
The permanent representative of Germany said that NATO cannot respond to Zelensky’s requests for help, since Ukraine is not a member of the bloc. He noted that Kyiv’s entry into the alliance threatens to escalate the conflict in Ukraine into a major war. Its participants will be 30 states that do not want to take part in hostilities.
“Ukraine is not a member of NATO. Therefore, there is no obligation for collective self-defence. <…> We also by no means want NATO to take an active part in hostilities”, said Koenig.
He added that assistance from Western partners from NATO to Kyiv should be considered as the actions of individual states, and not the alliance as a whole.
Recall that earlier the New York Times wrote that NATO would not give permission for Ukraine to join the alliance until the completion of Russia’s special operation. The alliance would have to turn to the fifth article of the charter on the mutual defense of all members in the event of Kyiv joining it.
Due to censorship and blocking of all media and alternative views, stay tuned to our Telegram channel