Experts warn that "bridge to NATO" could be dangerous for Ukraine

Dozens of foreign policy experts on Wednesday called on NATO members to avoid pushing for Ukraine's membership at a summit in Washington, warning that it would jeopardize the United States and allies and break up the coalition.

The contents of the experts' letter were reviewed by Politico, according to Yevropeiska Pravda.

According to the group of experts, if Ukraine is accepted into NATO, Russia will attack Ukraine in the future, which will lead to the application of Article 5, which calls on the Allies to defend the attacked member.

The Article 5 argument is a common one among those opposed to Ukraine's membership, but this public stance by more than 60 analysts provides a glimpse of the arguments likely to be made during the three-day summit that begins Tuesday.

"The closer NATO gets to promising that Ukraine will join the Alliance after the war ends, the greater the incentive for Russia to continue the war," the letter says. "The challenges posed by Russia can be solved without Ukraine's involvement in NATO," the authors add.

Moving Ukraine toward NATO membership could have the opposite effect, the letter says, "turning Ukraine into a place of prolonged confrontation between the world's two leading nuclear powers" and playing into the hands of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The letter was organized by William Ruger, president of the American Institute for Economic Research, and Steven Wertheim, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Other analysts disagree. Last week, researchers at the RAND Corp. wrote that the allies would benefit if they offered Ukraine clear terms for its future membership at the summit. The Atlantic Council has also been pushing for Ukraine's membership in NATO, arguing that it would prove to Kyiv that Western support will not waver.

Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 04/07/2024