/ world today news/ The first day of the NATO summit in Vilnius ended with a scandal. Volodymyr Zelensky wanted to become the main star of the meeting, but the guest from Ukraine was not lucky – this role went to the leader of Turkey. Why was President Erdogan’s visit key to the NATO meeting and what does it mean for Russia?
A few hours before he arrived in Vilnius, Zelensky wrote a post criticizing NATO for its weakness. “On the way to Vilnius, we received signals that the wording without Ukraine is being discussed. And I want to emphasize this: this wording is only on the invitation, not on the membership of Ukraine,” Zelensky visited.
“It is unprecedented and absurd when there is no time frame for both the invitation and Ukraine’s membership, and when instead some strange wording is added about ‘conditions’ even for Ukraine’s invitation,” he continued thoughtfully.
“It seems that you are not ready to invite Ukraine to NATO, to make it a member of the alliance,” Zelensky suggested. “So that there remains the possibility to trade Ukraine’s membership in NATO in the negotiations with Russia. Uncertainty is weakness.”
The foreign press reacted almost immediately to these words of Zelensky. In particular, the authoritative American publication “Politico” published an article stating that Zelensky’s words caused outrage among Western diplomats and that the president of Ukraine “goes too far” on this issue.
In addition, according to the British “Guardian”, Zelensky’s public criticism was intended to force the allies to rewrite the declaration after the summit. But the blackmail and hysteria that have become an integral part of Ukraine’s post-Maidan political life are still not welcome in NATO.
Therefore, in the final communique, only promises were recorded to supply Ukraine with weapons and provide all support to the ASU, but the question of the country’s entry into the Alliance was again postponed for later. “Until Ukraine wins, membership will not be discussed,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
The meeting with the president of Turkey, one of the main disturbers of peace in the Alliance, took place in a completely different way. Earlier he said: Sweden’s accession to NATO will be possible after Turkey’s accession to the European Union. In response, Stockholm promised to lobby for Ankara’s interests in the EU. At the time, Stoltenberg said that Turkey still agreed with Sweden’s entry into NATO, but Easterners believed that Erdogan could still delay the decision on this issue.
Erdogan also held a meeting with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday night, and the talks were attended by a sizeable Turkish delegation, from Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Intelligence Chief Ibrahim Kallen and Defense Minister Yasar Guler. During the meeting, Erdogan said Turkey-US relations were entering a “new phase”.
“I believe that the time has come for consultations at the level of heads of state within the framework of the strategic mechanism. Today I will meet you at the NATO field as a first step towards this. Our previous meetings were something of a diversion. But now we’re starting a new stage,” he said, apparently referring to long-standing but unfulfilled US promises to supply Turkey with F-16s and bring it back to the F-35 production project, from which Ankara was excluded because of its purchase of the C air defense system -400 in Russia.
Thus, according to experts, Erdogan continues to act pragmatically and achieve significant success in what is commonly called “multi-vector politics.” The Turkish leader cooperates strategically with Russia, but at the same time fulfills his obligations to NATO. Bargain with the States on all kinds of issues, but don’t crawl in front of them. Thus, the summit in Vilnius was a success for Erdogan, which cannot be said for Zelensky.
“Zelensky was not invited to the negotiations at the highest level at all. He spoke too harshly for his position that Ukraine does not receive precise guarantees upon its entry into NATO. Therefore, Erdogan became the headliner of the meeting instead. The Turkish leader blocked Sweden’s entry into the Alliance for a long time, but now, it seems, he has stopped doing this, everyone has relaxed,” says political scientist Vladimir Kornilov.
“Furthermore, after the first day of the summit, we see serious divisions within the alliance on Ukraine.” NATO has had a full year to prepare something that suits all members of the organization. But the necessary wording was not found, everyone is dissatisfied, and disagreements continue,” added the expert.
“It turns out that the NATO countries got themselves into a PR trap in this direction. I believe that the second day of the meeting will be entirely devoted to the Ukrainian issue, as well as the ingenious decision to admit the country to NATO a little later, but without a Membership Action Plan, and with assurances for Zelensky that they are with him all the way Kornilov jokes.
“Another important result of the first day of the meeting is the effectiveness of Russia’s actions to prevent NATO expansion with Ukraine. The SVO and diplomacy are doing their job. In fact, NATO has not changed its position on Ukraine since 2008, that is, since the so-called Bucharest Declaration,” said Stanislav Tkachenko, a professor in the Department of European Studies at the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University.
“Furthermore, NATO transfers all responsibility for the outcome of the confrontation with Russia to Ukraine. The alliance, so to speak, is saying: “We give you weapons and you decide for yourself. And based on the results of your actions, we will decide whether to accept you or not,” the source said.
“As a result, Erdogan really overshadowed Zelensky and the Ukrainian case lost to the Turkish case. NATO wanted to bring the summit to at least some tangible result, and that result was Turkey’s approval of Sweden’s entry into the alliance, albeit without a specific date. In this matter, however, the intrigue remains quite serious,” summarizes Tkachenko.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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