“It will be suicide for Europe not to accept Ukraine into NATO” after the war – Ukrainian FM Kuleba

If Ukraine does not become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance after the end of the war, it will be a suicide for Europe.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, stated, Politico, Bild, and Welt reported.

"After the war's end, it will be suicide for Europe not to accept Ukraine into NATO, as this will mean that the option of war will remain open," said the head of the foreign diplomatic service.

Kuleba also noted that Ukraine's accession to NATO would force Russia to stop repeating armed aggression.

"The only way to close the door to Russian aggression against Europe and the Euro-Atlantic space as a whole is to take Ukraine into NATO because Russia will not dare to repeat this experience," the minister emphasized.

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Ukraine clearly understands that it will be able to join the North Atlantic Alliance only after the end of hostilities. However, the state wants to receive a political decision regarding support for accession at the Alliance summit in Vilnius, which will be held on July 11-12.

Moreover, President Zelensky is sure that Ukraine has every reason to receive a political invitation to join the North Atlantic Alliance at the NATO summit in early July.

At the same time, according to POLITICO, support for simplifying the conditions for Ukraine's membership in NATO is growing among Alliance members. This makes it more likely that the proposal will become official during the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.

On September 30, 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal signed Ukraine's application for accelerated accession to NATO.

In addition, on April 10, the Verkhovna Rada [Ukraine's parliament – ed.] appealed to NATO member states and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to speed up Ukraine's entry into the Alliance.

It should be noted that US President Joe Biden stated that he is not going to simplify the requirements for Ukraine on the way to NATO.