Volker named a way to quickly end the war

NATO should allow Ukraine to join the Alliance as soon as possible, because delay in this matter encourages the Putin regime to continue the war indefinitely. Former US Ambassador to NATO, former US Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker stated this at a conference in the European Parliament, reports Ukrinform.

At the same time, Volcker emphasized that he was expressing a personal view, and not the position of the US government.

“I am convinced that today’s NATO policy is unwittingly sending a signal to Putin to continue fighting. Because we are saying that Ukraine will be a member for a long time, but we cannot bring it into NATO while this war continues. It is an incentive for Putin to continue the war “I really think it’s time for us to send the exact opposite message – that Ukraine will become a member of NATO as fast as possible,” said the American diplomat.

He noted that in this case there is no way to defeat Ukraine. After all, then for Putin the continuation of this war would be pointless and destructive for Russia.

According to Volker, the practical implementation of such an intention is not as difficult as believed. He admitted that there are concerns that Ukraine’s membership could lead to escalation, the risk of using nuclear weapons or a direct clash between NATO and Russian forces. These concerns must be addressed, but they can be addressed, according to Volker.

“We can say, especially in the format of the NATO-Ukraine Council, what Article 5 (of the Washington Treaty – ed.) means for Ukraine, and what measures the Alliance will take in accordance with this article to protect the Ukraine. Article 5 does not contain specific obligations to send troops, it talks about a collective response. We have such a collective response even now, because NATO is already providing training, equipment, intelligence data on Ukraine,” explained Volker.

At the same time, he stressed, NATO could do more to help Ukraine. In particular, this concerns the provision of mine clearance capabilities, including maritime mine clearance, which will open routes to the Black Sea. NATO may launch missions to ensure freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, which will deny Russia’s claim to the right to attack civilian ships of third countries in international waters – such actions by the Russian Federation is directly equivalent to piracy.

“NATO can also directly join the air defense of Ukraine. Providing appropriate equipment is a good start, things are better now than before. But I think the Alliance can do more by directly helping Ukraine with air defense,” Volker said.

He recalled that Ukraine borders NATO countries in the west, which makes it possible to use opportunities for air protection of large settlements or civilian infrastructure.

Let’s remember that the former Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, made a proposal that Ukraine could be accepted into NATO, but “not to extend the guarantees of collective self-defense” to the territory under the occupation of Russia.