Ukraine will become a “long-term” NATO member, says alliance chief

Ukraine will become a “long-term” member of NATO, the head of the Western military alliance said today, amid Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of the country.

But NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed that the immediate issue at hand is whether Ukraine remains an independent nation from Russia.

“NATO allies agreed that Ukraine will become a member of our alliance, but at the same time it is a long-term perspective,” Stoltenberg told reporters during a visit to the Finnish capital Helsinki.

The Russian president has cited the eastward expansion of NATO’s borders as one of the reasons behind his assault on the country. This has been dismissed by kyiv and its allies, who say that the invasion of Moscow is nothing more than an imperialist land grab.

Ukraine applied to join the alliance with a NATO Membership Action Plan in 2008, but plans to join were shelved after the election of Viktor Yanukovych in 2010, who opted to keep the country non-aligned.

Yanukovych fled Ukraine in 2014 amid the Euromaiden protests, but despite protesters’ calls to align more with the West, the replacement government maintained it had no plans to join NATO.

This changed when Russia invaded eastern Ukraine in 2014, and the new government made joining NATO a priority, and in 2019 the country’s constitution was amended to seek EU and NATO membership law.

In September 2022, months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine (launched by Putin on February 24, 2022) and following Russia’s annexation of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine, the country formally applied to join NATO.

Stoltenberg’s comments as Finland prepared to debate its own offer to join the military alliance, which was sparked by Putin’s invasion.

Finland, which has one of Europe’s longest borders with Russia, is launching a parliamentary debate aimed at speeding up the country’s candidacy and making it more likely to leave neighboring and military partner Sweden behind.

Frightened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden abandoned their decades-long policies of military nonalignment and applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in May last year.

But facing fewer diplomatic hurdles than Stockholm, Helsinki looks set to move ahead even before Finland’s April general election, as public opinion also supports membership in the transatlantic military alliance.

The two countries have the support of all but two of NATO’s 30 members, with Hungary and, in particular, Turkey being reluctant.

A vote is expected on Wednesday, and the passage of the bill means Finland can move quickly even if ratifications come before a new government.

The legislation is expected to pass without much opposition, as the initial membership bid in May was supported by 188 of the 200 members of parliament.

Helsinki has so far emphasized its preference to join the alliance along with Sweden, but some have interpreted the bill as a sign that Finland is ready to go it alone.

Meanwhile, Turkey has blocked the offers, accusing Sweden in particular of providing a safe haven for what it considers ‘terrorists’, especially members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

By contrast, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday that Turkey welcomed Finland’s offer.

This is breaking news. More to follow…