By KYIV. Oct 23 (Interfax-Ukraine) – At the Washington summit, Ukraine should receive an invitation to NATO, which will be tantamount to the start of accession negotiations, said Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum (KSF), Prime Minister of Ukraine (2014-2016) Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
“I believe that during the Washington NATO summit, Ukraine should receive an invitation, which will be tantamount to the start of negotiations on joining the Alliance,” the press service of the KSF quoted Yatsenyuk as saying at the event on Monday.
As earlier reported, during the Forum, a presentation of the Atlantic Council’s appeal to the U.S. President on Ukraine’s accession to NATO took place. According to Yatsenyuk, the document presented by the Atlantic Council is a “road map” on how to make Ukraine a member of the Alliance.
“We can discuss technical nuances. But this is not a matter of some technical nuances, it is a matter of history,” he stressed. “There is no other option for Ukraine, for the Ukrainian people, and for the entire free world than to make Ukraine a member of NATO,” Yatsenyuk said.
The most difficult thing, according to him, will be “to convince everyone in NATO to have a common position,” in particular, to have countries like Hungary and Turkey also take part in the accelerated process “to help Ukraine join NATO as soon as possible.”
“I believe that a decision will be made in Washington. I am convinced that the Washington Summit will bring real efforts and make a final decision for the Ukrainian people to make Ukraine a member of NATO. And to show the whole world that we are not afraid, that we believe in the free world and are ready to defend the free world together with Ukraine,” Yatseniuk said.
Answering questions from the guests of the event about the possibility of a “Plan B” in case of a different development of the situation, the Chairman of the KSF emphasized: “This is not a Plan B, this is surrender. The Chinese, the Russians, and even the global South are watching closely to see if the United States will show that it is still the leader of the free world. Will the free world be able to defend itself, does it have enough courage to defend democracy, freedoms, even people’s lives? Is the free world ready to fight? So there is no other option for the free world. And there may be many plans B, but they will all be in favor of totalitarian regimes.”
The Kyiv Security Forum, founded by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation, is Ukraine’s main platform for discussing problems of war and peace, national and world security.
