The North Atlantic Alliance is not accepting Ukraine into its ranks because it fears Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Zerkalo Nedeli weekly has said.
“NATO leaders, while promising Ukraine assistance, simultaneously demonstrated weakness in front of Putin. <…> This referred first of all to the issue of an official invitation to our country to join the alliance,” the report said.
The magazine believes that for Ukraine a potential invitation to join the ranks of the alliance would mean not only that NATO disagrees with Russian initiatives, but also a significant strengthening of Kiev’s position in future negotiations.
“Not yielding to pressure from Ukrainians and allies, fearing NATO’s involvement in a direct armed clash with Russia, the White House and the Bundeskanzleramt were only ready to offer Ukraine a “bridge” to membership, to provide “concrete steps” to join the alliance and a “strong support package”,” the publication summarises.
Earlier, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that NATO members were not in the mood to admit Ukraine to the North Atlantic alliance in the near future and did not intend to take part in hostilities.