Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga Photo: Alina Smutko/ Reuters
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga has called on his NATO counterparts to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance during the upcoming meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on 3-4 December. This was reported by Reuters.
This call is part of Kyiv’s new diplomatic strategy, which fits in with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “victory plan”. The plan envisages, among other things, more weapons, including a “non-nuclear deterrence package”, the right to strike Russia with long-range Western missiles, and, most importantly, Ukraine’s integration into NATO.
In her letter, Sibiga emphasises that Kyiv is aware of the impossibility of full membership in the Alliance during the active phase of the war with Russia. At the same time, an invitation to join now would signal to the Kremlin the failure of one of the main goals of the aggression – to stop Ukraine’s integration into the Euro-Atlantic space.
“We believe that the invitation should be sent now. This will be an adequate response by the allies to Russia’s constant escalation of the war, including the involvement of tens of thousands of North Korean troops and the use of Ukraine as a testing ground for new weapons,” the Ukrainian minister said in a letter.
Although NATO has confirmed that Ukraine is moving towards “irreversible” integration into the Alliance, no official invitation has been made, nor has a specific timeline been set. According to NATO diplomats, there is no consensus among the 32 member states on such a decision.
In response to the letter, Deputy Prime Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna clarified that Ukraine understands the existing differences among NATO members, but insists that the issue of the invitation remains relevant.
“We would like to emphasise that the topic of the invitation has not been removed from the agenda, despite any manipulations or speculations around this issue,” Stefanishyna told Reuters.
This diplomatic move by Kyiv reflects Ukraine’s desire to receive clear signals of support from NATO amid the protracted war with Russia. However, many Western partners remain cautious, considering a complete defeat of Russia unlikely in the current environment, making it difficult to implement Ukraine’s ambitious plan.
