Ukraine’s President Zelensky was in Downing Street last week – as well as Paris, Rome, Berlin and Dubrovnik – asking for Nato membership. In every city, he heard the same ‘not yet’ as he’d received in Washington last month.
Some of Kyiv’s western allies believe membership is the only way to guarantee Ukraine’s independence. Russia has never attacked a Nato country, because of the Article 5 guarantee that an attack against one is an attack against all. Therefore, Ukraine will never be safe from Russia unless it joins.
The US government wants to avoid the war that Ukrainian membership would oblige it to fight
But there’s a fundamental flaw to this logic: Ukraine cannot join Nato in the foreseeable future. Legally, the organisation’s charter bans any state with disputed borders from joining – and no state in modern times has more viciously disputed borders than Ukraine. Politically, new members must be ratified by all members – and Hungary, Turkey, Croatia, Germany and the US have weighty constituencies who believe Ukrainian admittance would be a profound folly.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in