Ukraine is more of a burden than a military asset; NATO does not seriously consider the possibility that the country could become a member of the alliance. This was stated on Wednesday, January 19, by the American political expert Clinton Ehrlich in a comment to the TV channel fox news.
“Ukraine is more of a burden than a military asset. Politicians are pushing for its entry, arguing that this should happen because Russia should not have a veto over who is in NATO,” Erlich said.
According to him, many officials holding senior positions in NATO do not want to see Kiev in the alliance because of corruption in the Ukrainian government. Erlich also drew attention to the fact that NATO expansion could lead the US to war with Russia. This, as the political expert clarified, was said by the American military strategist during the Cold War, George Kennan.
Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken promised Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky that if the situation around Ukraine escalated, the consequences for Russia would be “crippling.” In addition, Blinken said the United States will continue to support Ukraine and provide an additional $300 million in 2022.
On the same day, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the scenario of a moratorium on the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance was unacceptable for Russia. According to him, Russia will do everything possible by diplomatic means to prevent Ukraine from joining the alliance.
On January 14, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that there were reasons to believe that NATO could start building up forces near Russia in the coming months under the pretext of the situation in Ukraine. At the same time, the minister noted that the Russian Federation had never threatened the Ukrainian people.
In addition, Lavrov pointed out that in the plans of the US and NATO there is a desire to “wind up” the process of security guarantees.
Negotiations on security guarantees were held in three stages in January. On January 10, a meeting of the Russian and US delegations took place in Geneva. On January 12, a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council was held in Brussels, and on January 13, consultations ended at the Vienna site of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Among the main requirements of the Russian Federation is a guarantee of non-expansion of NATO and the absence of Ukraine in the alliance. At the same time, the Foreign Ministry emphasized that a situation in which Kiev is not taken into the alliance, but the military bases of the United States and its allies appear on Ukrainian territory is also unacceptable.
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