Ukraine joining NATO will prolong conflict with Russia for another “half century”

As the battlefield situation becomes increasingly difficult for Ukraine and the fate of additional US military aid to Kyiv remains uncertain, the transatlantic military alliance is also celebrating its 75th anniversary.

The door to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is not yet open for Ukraine to enter. However, arguments supporting this scenario frequently emerge from influential experts such as former NATO leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen and former US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder.

They believe that Ukraine will eventually join NATO. This is both a way to convince Russia that its military campaign cannot exclude Ukraine from the alliance, and a necessary way to provide adequate security for Ukraine once the fighting ends.

Alongside this, warnings against this scenario have also been issued. Recently, a French lawmaker stated that Ukraine's accession to NATO would be detrimental to European countries, and that such a development would prolong the Russia-Ukraine conflict for about half a century.

"Granting NATO membership to Ukraine would mean prolonging the conflict for half a century and destroying the European continent," said Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a member of the French National Assembly and leader of the Debout la France (France Rises) party.

“It would also lead to economic dependence on the United States,” Dupont-Aignan told France Info radio on April 5. “We are spending money on American-made weapons. In fact, the issue is not about supporting Ukraine but about boosting the American defense industry.”

The French lawmaker pointed out that Russia and Ukraine held talks in Istanbul in the spring of 2022, “which were suspended under pressure from the US and the UK.”

Mr. Dupont-Aignan also argued that it was time to move towards peace , otherwise Europe would be ruined by economic and social problems.

World - Ukraine's accession to NATO will prolong the conflict with Russia for another — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg points out seating positions to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba before the start of the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting, following the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, April 4, 2024. Photo: Getty Images

Stephen M. Walt, a professor of international relations at Harvard University, argues that Ukraine should not join NATO for the benefit of the Eastern European nation itself.

In an article in Foreign Policy in early March, Walt pointed out five reasons why NATO should not accept Ukraine, for Ukraine's own benefit. One of the reasons the American professor cited was that NATO membership would only prolong the conflict.

“If it is true that Moscow’s military action is largely aimed at preventing Kyiv from joining NATO, then bringing Ukraine into NATO now would only prolong a war that the country is currently losing,” Walt wrote. “If that is why Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his special military operation, then he will not be able to end it if his forces are performing well and Ukraine’s accession to NATO is still under consideration.”

“As a result, Ukraine will suffer even more damage, and it is conceivable that its long-term future will be at risk. Ukraine was one of the fastest-declining countries in Europe before the conflict began, and the effects of the war (refugee exodus, reduced fertility, battlefield death rates, etc.) will only worsen this problem .”

Minh Duc (According to TASS, Foreign Policy)

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