German Chancellor Olaf Scholz tonight rejected the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is asking for his country to be invited to NATO, as part of the “victory plan” he has drawn up against Russia.
“It is important to realize that a warring country cannot under any circumstances become a member of NATO. The whole world knows it, there is no dispute about it. And the invitation is usually quite quickly linked to NATO membership,” the German chancellor said in an interview with public broadcaster ZDF.
“We outlined a prospect” of Ukraine’s accession at the NATO summits in Vilnius last year and in Washington this summer, Soltz recalled, referring to the Alliance’s commitment to invite Kiev when its countries decide and the conditions are ripe. “But I believe that beyond that, there is currently no need to make a new decision,” he added.
Last week, Zelensky presented the EU and NATO with a “victory plan” that would put his country in a position of strength against Russia, before any negotiations begin. This plan envisages giving it the invitation to join NATO now, since the Alliance is the only real security guarantee for Kiev, as he believes. It also calls for the lifting of restrictions on the use of weapons systems provided by the West to Ukraine and for the deployment of non-nuclear, deterrent means on Ukrainian soil.
None of these requests finds unanimous agreement among NATO members.
In his interview, Solz reiterated that he does not want NATO to become a belligerent in the war that Russia launched against Ukraine in February 2022. He also recalled that he disagrees with the delivery to Ukraine of long-range German Taurus missiles, which could hit targets deep inside Russian territory.
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