The content of the letter sent by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha to the head of NATO's diplomatic mission reflects Kiev's new efforts to secure an invitation to join NATO as soon as possible.
This is seen as part of the "victory plan" outlined by Ukrainian President Zelensky last month to end the current war between Russia and Ukraine.
Kiev sends letter urging NATO to admit Ukraine as a member. (Photo: NATO)
Kiev has applied to join NATO in September 2022 and July 2024. Although NATO affirms Ukraine's "irreversible path" towards full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership, Ukraine has not yet received any solid news about future accession.
President Zelensky said granting Ukraine NATO membership while temporarily accepting Russia's occupation of its territory could be a solution to end the "hot phase" of the 33-month war.
Ukraine has accepted that it cannot join the alliance until the war is over, but NATO's invitation and signaling at this time will make it impossible for Russian President Vladimir Putin to achieve one of his main goals - preventing Kiev from becoming a NATO member.
In the letter, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha stated: "This invitation should not be considered an escalation of tensions. On the contrary, with a clear understanding that Ukraine's accession to NATO is inevitable, Russia will lose one of the main reasons for continuing this unjustified war. I call on you to support the decision to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance as one of the outcomes of the NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting on December 3-4, 2024."
"No one is suggesting that we join NATO for one part of Ukraine or another. In fact, this is a solution to prevent the hot phase of the war because we can be granted NATO membership for the part of Ukraine that is under our control," President Zelensky said, implying that Ukraine's NATO membership may initially only apply to the part of Ukraine that it controls.
"But the invitation to join must be extended to Ukraine across its entire internationally recognised territory. That is what we need to do quickly and then Ukraine can diplomatically reclaim the rest of its territory," he stressed.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna said Kiev understood that there was still no consensus on the invitation to join NATO, but the letter was intended to send a strong political signal from the country.
NATO said there was no consensus among all members to invite Ukraine to join at this time. Any such decision would require the consent of all 32 NATO member states.
Meanwhile, on the war situation, on November 28, Russia launched a second major attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, causing power outages across the country. The Russian army is also taking the initiative on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, controlling a large area and advancing at a speed considered to be the fastest ever.
President Vladimir Putin said the new Oreshnik hypersonic missile could target Kiev if Ukraine continued to use long-range Western weapons. Putin said the air strikes on Ukraine were Moscow’s “response” to Kiev’s attacks with US-made ATACMS missiles.
Putin also threatened to launch the new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile at the Ukrainian capital Kiev. On November 27, Russian sources said that the country had officially closed its airspace to flights over the Kapustin Yar test site, which specializes in testing missiles and is also the launch point of the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile that attacked the Yuzhmash enterprise in Dnipro, Ukraine.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/tiet-lo-buc-thu-ukraine-thuc-giuc-nato-ket-nap-thanh-vien-ar910555.html
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