Biden Called the Conditions for Ukraine Entering NATO

The US President noted that Kiev needs to meet certain criteria Speaking at a press conference in Brussels, President Biden said that Russia's armed invasion of Ukraine does not exclude the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO, but Kiev must fulfill a number of conditions. “[Ukraine's accession to NATO] depends on whether it meets the criteria. The fact is that Ukraine has yet to eliminate corruption. They must meet other criteria to receive the Membership Action Plan,” President Biden said in response to a journalist's question. “In the meantime, we will do everything possible so that Ukraine can continue to resist Russia's aggression. And it will not only depend on me whether we will conclude that Ukraine can become part of NATO, but will depend on the Alliance and how it will vote,” Biden added. “I know that they [the Alliance member countries] need to be convinced, which is not easy. Many years ago, I gave a speech in the Verkhovna Rada and I said that Ukraine has the opportunity to do a rhing it has never been able to do in its history: create a democratic, uncorrupted nation without the participation of oligarchs. I noted during my speech that they will go down in history as the founding fathers of Ukraine, if they actually do it. We are going to give Ukraine the opportunity to maintain its security. " Nina Yankowicz, an employee of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington (Nina Yankowicz, Wilson Center), commenting on Joe Biden's statements, recalled that in 2008 Ukraine and Georgia were promised to join the Alliance. “We saw what happened after that: Russia invaded Georgia and later Ukraine. Moscow continued to cause instability and even launched a direct armed conflict in both countries. There are also a number of democratic reforms that Kiev needs to carry out before Ukraine can become a NATO member,” she said. Nina Yankowicz recalls that NATO is not only a military alliance, but also an alliance of democracies. “So, I think President Biden probably wants to see some kind of anti-corruption programs for Ukraine to be a democratic state. He expects Ukraine to become a stable state, with political transformations and a stable economy. - emphasizes the expert. "These were all preconditions for members who joined NATO." Nina Yankowicz reminds that NATO cannot accept this or that country as its member only for the reason that it was attacked. This is also known to the Russian leader, who is making efforts to prevent this from happening, she adds. “Putin knows as well. He is trying to create several frozen or even hot conflicts in Ukraine in order to prevent her from joining NATO,” Nina Yankowicz says. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted that "NATO leaders have confirmed that Ukraine will become a member of the Alliance, and the MAP is an integral part of the membership process." Recall, in 2008, under President Viktor Yushchenko, Kiev sent to Brussels an official application for the NATO Membership Action Plan. In 2010, President Yanukovych refused to join the Alliance. In 2017, President Poroshenko announced that Ukraine would seek negotiations on the MAP.