Several NATO countries could decide to send their soldiers to Ukraine if real security guarantees are not given to Ukraine at the July NATO summit in Vilnius, according to former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Several NATO countries could decide to send their soldiers to Ukraine if real security guarantees are not given to Ukraine at the July NATO summit in Vilnius, according to former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Rasmussen also warns: even if some NATO countries decide to provide security guarantees to Ukraine at the Vilnius summit, other countries would not allow the issue of Ukraine’s membership in NATO to be removed from the summit agenda at some point in the future.
Rasmussen has commented on the statement of the current NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine will definitely be on the agenda of the summit, however, according to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, the alliance provides full guarantees only to its full member states, the British media “The Guardian” reports.
Rasmussen believes that if NATO is unable to agree on a clear plan on the Ukraine issue, there is a possibility that certain individual steps can be taken by individual members of the alliance.
“I would not rule out the possibility that Poland can become more involved at the national level [Ukrainas atbalstīšanā]which could also be followed by the Baltic states, possibly including the deployment of troops in Ukraine,” said the former NATO Secretary General.
He believes that Ukraine’s desire to receive such assistance would be completely legitimate.
Rasmussen emphasizes that it is important that Ukraine receives security guarantees that would include intelligence sharing, training of Ukrainian troops, increased production of ammunition, as well as a commitment to supply enough weapons to successfully repel Russian aggression.
However, guarantees are not enough. Some countries could support the provision of security guarantees to Ukraine, thus hoping to avoid real discussions about Ukraine’s admission to NATO.
“There is a group of belligerent Central and Eastern European countries that want a clear path for Ukraine to join NATO,” said Rasmussen.
As history has shown, it is dangerous to make Ukraine wait for a long time to join NATO.
Rasmussen also rejects the argument that Ukraine cannot be offered NATO candidate status while the war continues, because such a situation would guarantee Russia a certain veto, which states that the continuation of the war means that Ukraine will not be admitted to the alliance.
