Only alternative to Ukraine’s NATO membership is its nuclear status, - Estonian Foreign Minister Reinsalu
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu believes that membership in the North Atlantic Alliance is the only option to guarantee Ukraine’s security, except for nuclear weapons - but this option is impossible in practice.
He said this in an interview with the American portal Newsweek, reports Censor.NЕТ with reference to "European truth".
"If we say that we don't see Ukraine as a NATO member after this war, it will mean that we are afraid - or predict - that Russia will attack again, and then NATO countries will be drawn into a world war, or at least a war for the European continent. This is already a recognition that a large-scale war will happen again," the Estonian Minister explained his position.
He rejected any alternatives to Ukraine's membership in the Alliance, including a plan for rapprochement with NATO in exchange for Kyiv's greater willingness to negotiate with Russia, which the media reported was being promoted by Britain, Germany, and France.
"What's the point of trying to copy NATO if you make it clear that it's not NATO? It looks like a half-NATO. I would treat such a copy with great suspicion. To be honest, the only guarantee, apart from NATO, would be to provide Ukraine with nuclear weapons," Reinsalu said, while emphasizing that such a step is impossible and undesirable given the non-proliferation commitments of the Alliance's nuclear powers.
According to Reinsalu, leaving Ukraine outside the West's security umbrella would leave Kyiv in uncertainty and undermine the country's recovery process.
"Imagine that we do not provide Ukraine with the Article 5 guarantees after the war. Then we will be encouraging Ukraine to build its self-defense according to the "hedgehog" strategy, as in the Wild West, standing in its fort with rifles and waiting for Russia. I think this would create a gray area in the middle of Europe. This would be a big negative signal about their aspirations for the European Union, in terms of security, investment guarantees and everything else," the Estonian Foreign Minister added.
