NATO has admitted that it has so far ignored the Ukrainian side’s application to join the alliance and cannot offer the country to join in the near future, reports the Financial Times, citing unnamed diplomats from the countries NATO members.
“The application letter is on the table, but we just ignore it,” said one of the diplomats.
It is clarified that Ukraine is not being offered NATO membership, but we can talk about closer relations between the country and the alliance.
The publication notes that the position of the North Atlantic Alliance is causing growing irritation among Ukrainian officials.
As Andriy Sibiga, deputy head of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, said, Ukraine wants to receive reliable guarantees, not assurances, agreements and security measures.
“At the NATO summit, we want to get results. We don’t just want a declaration of an open door policy. We want to get something with specific guarantees… We hope to get a response to our formal application for NATO membership,” he said.
The previous day, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had said that the alliance wanted to discuss with Ukraine not only military support issues, but also reforms, including the fight against corruption, as well as the protection rights of national minorities.
The Financial Times article NATO admits ignoring Ukraine’s candidacy to join the alliance
