Ukraine shows significant progress on path to NATO membership – MP

During the meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council, the parties noted Ukraine’s significant progress on the path to membership of the Alliance.

This was reported by People’s Deputy, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Oleksandr Merezhko, who spoke in a comment to Ukrinform.

“The meeting of the Interparliamentary Council included an interesting address by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. He also answered questions. The main idea is to strengthen Ukraine as much as possible,” MP noted.

“That’s including the issues of how to convince all NATO member states to support Ukraine’s accession to the Alliance, as well as the question of what Putin’s strategic defeat in the war should imply,” the lawmaker added.

According to Merezhko, during the meeting it was noted that Ukraine has made significant progress on the path to membership of the Alliance.

At the same time, the parliamentarian emphasized that the topic of Ukraine’s accession to NATO should not be a subject of discussion between world leaders, in particular the new US President Donald Trump, and Putin.

“During my speech at the meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council, I emphasized that it is extremely important that the topic of Ukraine’s accession to NATO not be a subject of discussion with Putin at all, including a possible conversation between Trump and Putin. Russia should not dictate to Ukraine whether to become a member of NATO or not. The issue should not be discussed by anyone with Russia at all,” the head of the parliamentary committee said.

In his opinion, in order to achieve “significant success on the front”, at least parity with Russia in terms of armaments is necessary. In this context, Merezhko emphasized the importance of military assistance from NATO members.

At the same time, the lawmaker drew attention to the fact that the documents of the NATO summit state that China is a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine, and that this must be taken into account.

He expressed his belief that only Ukraine’s victory over Russia can prevent World War III.

“Russia’s war against Ukraine is a prelude to World War III, and the only chance to prevent a world war is Ukraine’s victory over Russia,” Merezhko emphasized.

As Ukrinform reported, a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council kicked off in Brussels on January 20.

According to Oleksandr Kornienko, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine will be able to counter the aggressor state if it joins NATO, strengthens its defense-industrial complex, and sees additional sanctions imposed by partners against Iran and North Korea.
/Ukrinform/