Europe gives Ukraine ultimatum if it joins NATO

According to RT on October 20, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said that the Ukrainian government, along with other provisions, must push back corruption so that Ukraine can meet the requirements to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

“If we want to modernize the Ukrainian Armed Forces with the participation of other countries, it is also necessary to assess Ukraine’s progress in the fight against corruption,” Dutch Defense Minister Brekelmans said, Reuters reported. He also called for the development of clear criteria that Ukraine would have to meet to join NATO, otherwise it would be difficult to make a decision on the invitation to join the alliance.

“Without clarity first, I don’t see any prospect of an invitation from the 32 members,” the official told reporters, following a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

According to the Dutch Defense Minister, the alliance countries have “very different opinions” on the issue of Ukraine being able to join NATO.

Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysh said that, in general, President Zelensky’s “victory plan” did not arouse “great enthusiasm” in NATO and the EU. According to him, this plan “does not solve problems, is not a meaningful light at the end of the tunnel to change reality.” Kamysh also said that the difficult situation on the Ukrainian front, along with “war fatigue” had been building up for a long time.

The British Daily Telegraph quoted security sources as saying that the Kiev government was beginning to fall into despair because NATO was unwilling to accept Ukraine into the alliance.

For Moscow's part, the Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that Ukraine's accession to the alliance under current conditions would end the possibility of resolving the conflict through politics and diplomacy. The ministry also believes that this "will make NATO's direct involvement in hostile activities against Russia inevitable and will lead to an uncontrolled escalation, the responsibility for which will lie entirely with the Western countries that sponsor Kiev."

“We have repeatedly warned about the risk of Ukraine joining NATO,” said Alexei Polishchuk, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s CIS countries department, expressing hope that NATO leadership will make wise decisions.