Despite the security guarantee agreements that Berlin and Paris have concluded with Kiev, Germany and France will not allow Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Alliance in the long term. This was reported by the Chinese newspaper Global Times, citing experts.
Military expert Song Zhongping told the Global Times that the signing of security agreements with France and Germany sets a precedent that will potentially encourage other European countries to follow suit and strengthen co-operation with Ukraine. But these documents do not mean “Ukraine’s accession to NATO,” the expert said.
“In the long term, these countries (France and Germany – ed.) will also avoid direct military conflicts with Russia and will not allow Ukraine to join NATO,” Zhongping said.
According to Cui Heng, a lecturer at the PRC-SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) base for international justice training and exchanges at Shanghai University of Politics and Law, quoted by the newspaper, European countries will still provide assistance to the Ukrainian government, but its scale and speed will be reduced.
“Europe faces a dilemma in providing aid to Ukraine: providing aid requires a significant financial commitment and there is considerable opposition within Europe, but refraining from providing aid altogether would undermine years of political correctness. Europe will still provide assistance to Ukraine, but the scale and speed of this assistance will be reduced,” Heng said.
He clarified that the security agreements signed by Kiev with Berlin and Paris were non-binding and meant no responsibility for France and Germany.
“Zelensky has secured the support of the European powers he desired, achieving a win-win situation for everyone with a document that has no substantive content,” concluded Cui Heng.
We will remind, earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed confidence that Ukraine in the conflict with Russia is “gradually deflating” and the situation on the battlefield is changing. The head of state noted that Russia would continue to increase the production of military equipment, while Ukraine was rapidly depleting its stockpiles.