Yevhen Magda: “Biden’s desire is not enough to change Ukraine’s status in NATO”
1 October 2024 15:42
EXCLUSIVE
The desire of US President Joe Biden alone is not enough to change Ukraine’s status on the path to NATO. This opinion was expressed by political scientist Yevhen Magda in an exclusive commentary to Komersant ukrainskyi
As reported
Yevhen Magda is sceptical about Biden’s ability to do so.
“To be honest, I don’t understand how the US president can single-handedly solve the issue of Ukraine’s accession to NATO. The FT may know better, but as far as I know, such decisions are made by consensus,”
– said the expert.
It is worth noting that it is not entirely a question of Biden deciding something on his own, but rather a change in the position of the US president, who now seems ready to promote Ukraine. According to the political scientist, there is definitely no question of changing Ukraine’s status.
“I can’t imagine what it would be like. In my understanding, if we had hopes about the summit in Washington, do we now expect that they will gather somewhere for some kind of meeting and change the status? It seems a bit strange to me.”
The expert added that it is possible that Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga could have received some information on this matter during his visit to Budapest, but expressed doubts about this as well.
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Ukraine-NATO
Relations between Ukraine and NATO began shortly after Ukraine gained independence in 1991. In 1994, Ukraine joined the Partnership for Peace programme, which was the first step towards cooperation with the Alliance. In 1997, the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership between Ukraine and NATO was signed, which defined the main areas of cooperation.
An important milestone was reached at the 2008 NATO Bucharest Summit, where it was declared that Ukraine and Georgia would become members of the Alliance in the future, although no specific timeline was set.
After the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 and the outbreak of Russian aggression, cooperation between Ukraine and NATO intensified significantly. Ukraine was granted NATO’s Enhanced Opportunities Partner status in 2020.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 further strengthened cooperation. NATO countries provide Ukraine with significant military, financial and humanitarian assistance. However, despite Ukraine’s aspirations for full membership in the Alliance and NATO’s continued support for Ukraine, the issue of accession remains a subject of debate and diplomatic negotiations.
At the Vilnius Summit in 2023, it was announced that Ukraine would become a member of the Alliance without MAP.
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