Nato membership for Ukraine would not end the war
French President Emmanuel Macron suggested earlier this year that Western troops should be sent to Ukraine. Should Nato become more involved in the Russia-Ukraine war or even consider granting Ukraine membership? And would Nato membership protect Ukraine from Russian aggression?
No, making Ukraine a Nato member is not the solution to ending the war. According to Nato’s website, Article 5 of the Nato treaty “provides that if a Nato ally is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members and will take the actions it deems necessary to assist the ally attacked”. Even if Ukraine had membership, Nato members are not obliged to get involved if they deem it unnecessary. And if, as is likely, some Nato members object to going to war on Ukraine’s behalf, Russian President Vladimir Putin would no doubt use it as a wedge to further weaken the transatlantic alliance. If Nato really were eager to get directly involved, it could have done so already. Nato membership for Ukraine is not the antidote and it is unthinkable Putin would back down merely because Ukraine formally joined Nato.
In addition, a corrupt Ukraine in Nato would weaken the bloc’s unity, responsiveness and influence. Corruption has been an obstacle to Ukraine joining the European Union. Ukraine is ranked 104 out of
180 countries in Transparency International’s latest corruption perceptions index. Despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s efforts to fight corruption, the authorities recently uncovered a US$40 million arms corruption scandal involving defence ministry officials and contractors.
The conflict is unlikely to end without giving
Putin some face-saving way out. But rewarding such a brutal bully is unconscionable. The West’s political will to support Ukraine may weaken with a Trump presidency in the US, even if former Soviet states, fearing the return of the Russian empire, will probably support Ukraine to the bitter end. Come what may, Nato membership is unlikely to make any difference.