Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has called on NATO to extend an invitation to Kyiv to join the alliance during the upcoming NATO Foreign Ministerial Meeting in Brussels on December 3-4, 2024. In a letter shared with NATO counterparts, Sybiha emphasized that such a move would counter one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s primary objectives and mark a significant step in Ukraine’s “victory plan” to end the war initiated by Russia in 2022.
“The invitation should not be seen as an escalation,” Sybiha wrote. “On the contrary, with a clear understanding that Ukraine’s membership in NATO is inevitable, Russia will lose one of its main arguments for continuing this unjustified war.”
Ukraine’s Membership Tied to Post-War Stability
Ukraine acknowledges that joining NATO during the ongoing conflict is not feasible. However, Sybiha and other Ukrainian leaders believe that issuing an invitation now would demonstrate the inevitability of Kyiv’s membership and challenge Moscow’s motives. NATO has already declared that Ukraine’s path to membership is “irreversible,” though no formal invitation or timeline has been provided.
“We have sent a message to the allies that the invitation is not off the table, regardless of different manipulations and speculations around that,” said Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for NATO affairs. She admitted that consensus among NATO members for extending an invitation “is not yet there” but maintained that the letter was intended to send a powerful political message.
Geopolitical Dynamics and Allied Hesitations
NATO diplomats have indicated that a consensus among the alliance’s 32 members remains elusive. Any decision on Ukraine’s membership would require unanimous approval, a challenging prospect given differing perspectives within the alliance. Much of NATO’s stance may depend on the Ukraine policy of the United States under President-elect Donald Trump, as the U.S. is NATO’s dominant power.
Sybiha, however, argued that extending an invitation would be an appropriate response to Russia’s continued escalation. “The latest demonstration of which is the involvement of tens of thousands of North Korean troops and the use of Ukraine as a testing ground for new weapons,” he wrote.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s “victory plan” sees NATO membership as a critical element in achieving lasting peace and security for Ukraine. By pushing for an invitation now, Ukrainian leaders aim to send a message of resilience and inevitability to Russia, ensuring that Putin’s objectives are undermined.
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