Major obstacle on Ukraine's path to NATO membership
President Volodymyr Zelensky is determined to make Ukraine join NATO as soon as possible. But to realize these wishes, Kiev must first carry out additional reforms.
According to RT on July 4, Focus magazine (Germany) said that before Ukraine is accepted into NATO, the country will have to carry out additional reforms.
The big problem for this Eastern European country when joining the Western military alliance is, first of all, serious corruption. A senior US State Department official said that in this regard, Ukraine will have to take “additional steps” now.
Focus believes that despite the significant reforms implemented in Ukraine in recent years, NATO sees the need for further action. Particular attention is paid to the fight against corruption as part of the alliance’s conditions. The document confirming this unified position is expected to be published shortly after the annual NATO summit on July 9.
According to Focus, Ukrainian President Zelensky is determined to join NATO as soon as possible “to protect the country from future attacks.” Such membership would mean that the US and Europe would be obliged to defend Ukraine in the event of a Russian attack. However, one obstacle to membership negotiations is the ongoing corruption in Ukraine.
In an interview with Time magazine, US President Joe Biden spoke about “severe corruption” in Ukraine, and ruled out the possibility of supporting Ukraine's accession.
NATO diplomats and officials have given Ukraine a list of reforms it needs to undertake before it can realise its ambitions of NATO membership.
So far, a number of Western countries have signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, on July 3, Politico (USA) also published an open letter from American scientists and analysts, sent to NATO and proposed to reject Ukraine's accession to the alliance, at the July summit in Washington.
“Ukraine’s approach to membership in the alliance can only make things worse, turning it into a territory witnessing a long-term confrontation between the world’s two leading nuclear powers,” the open letter reads.
According to Politico, 61 people have signed an open letter to NATO.
