Categories: ANALYTICS

News from the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington

The tone was set by the new British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, who told the White House that the UK gives Ukraine permission to use its Storm Shadow missiles to strike Russia’s territory, military facilities and infrastructure without restriction.

The British Prime Minister added that these missiles should be used in accordance with international humanitarian law for defense purposes.

“But it is up to Ukraine to decide how to use them for these defensive purposes,” Starmer said.

A number of European NATO countries, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, share the same position…

However, the White House’s position remains uncertain. John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator for the National Security Council, told reporters that the United States is not ready to lift all restrictions on Ukraine’s ability to use American weapons on the territory of the Russian Federation. The White House’s position differs significantly from that of a number of members of the U.S. Senate and Congress, led by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who believe that Kyiv has every right to use U.S. weapons against military targets throughout the Russian Federation without restriction.

Instead, all NATO leaders showed unanimity that Ukraine needs more military, financial, and humanitarian assistance. In this context, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis harshly criticized his colleagues in the Alliance. He said that NATO countries have provided only half of the aid they promised to give Ukraine to protect it from Russian aggressors.

“As for the assistance we all provide to Ukraine, I think it’s time to be realistic, we have provided about half of what we promised. And this is not enough. If we want Ukraine to win, we must help more,” the Romanian president emphasized.

As a result, the Alliance approved a plan for minimum funding for Ukraine for 2025 – at least 40 billion euros!

And now for the sacramental – Ukraine’s membership in NATO. It still remains rather vague. Ukraine’s accession to NATO is possible only after Ukraine wins the war against Russia. This conclusion follows from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s broad statements.

After the war is over, Ukraine must have sufficient capabilities to deter Russian aggression, as well as security guarantees, the best of which is Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, so the ultimate goal of NATO’s negotiations and actions in cooperation with Ukraine is Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance.

“We have seen the trend of Russia’s behavior, when it has been tearing Ukraine apart time and time again. If we have a new ceasefire, a new agreement, then we have to be fundamentally confident that it will stop where that line is drawn. When the fighting stops, we have to ensure that Ukraine has the capacity to deter further Russian aggression and has security guarantees. Of course, the best and strongest security guarantees will be Article 5. So I am convinced that the ultimate goal of these negotiations is Ukraine’s membership in NATO,” Stoltenberg said.

Rostyslav Demchuk

Ukraine Front Lines