US and NATO officials said that the US and Germany are blocking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to join the North Atlantic alliance. Kiev has been pushing for NATO to accept Ukraine as its 33rd member as a part of Zelensky’s victory plan.
Four NATO and US sources speaking with Politico told the outlet that Washington and Berlin are “slow walking.” Zelensky calls for Kiev to be immediately added to the alliance. Hungary and Slovakia also oppose Ukraine’s ascension into the Washington-led bloc.
US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith explained the White House’s position to Politico. “The alliance has not, to date, reached the point where it is prepared to offer membership or an invitation to Ukraine,” she said.
In a Facebook post, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban described Zelensky’s victory plan as “terrifying.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz argued that Ukraine should not be admitted to the alliance because NATO should seek to avoid a direct war with Russia. “We are making sure that NATO does not become a party to the war, so that this war does not turn into a much greater catastrophe,” he said last week.
In 2008, Washington led the NATO alliance in promising Kiev that Ukraine would one day become a member of the bloc. However, the Kremlin argued that Ukraine joining NATO would present a national security threat to Moscow.
Over the following 16 years, Washington orchestrated a coups in Kiev, removing leaders with ties to Moscow for a government that sought to deepen ties with the West. Additionally, NATO increasingly treated Kiev as a de facto member state with arms transfers and war games on Ukrainian soil as well as the Black Sea.
In 2022, arguing that Kiev’s ties to NATO have become too much of a threat for Moscow to ignore, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
