Pistorius urges calm
Selenskyj rumbles against NATO decision
7/11/2023, 7:16 p.m
Is there a way for Ukraine into NATO? The alliance vaguely promises it – too vague for President Zelenskyj. He railed against the members and assumed a lack of will to join. Germany’s Defense Minister Pistorius rejects the allegations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sharply criticized the NATO prospects outlined for his country. The defense alliance previously gave the country attacked by Russia hope of admission, but made a formal invitation subject to conditions.
Zelenskyy had been fighting for a formal invitation for months, but his hopes have now been dashed. Even before the formal decision, he vented his anger on the way to Vilnius. “It looks like there is no willingness to invite Ukraine into NATO or make it a member of the alliance,” he wrote on Twitter. “For Russia, this is a motivation to continue its terror.” This vagueness is a sign of the weakness of the West. “And I will address that openly at the summit.”
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, on the other hand, dismissed Zelenskyy’s accusations that NATO had not made any commitments regarding Ukraine’s accession as premature. “To be honest, I can’t see that and would also recommend that we all wait for the final communiqué in its final version,” said Pistorius on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. “There will definitely be formulations that should satisfy Ukraine.”
Pistorius: Ukraine has different claims
However, it must be said clearly “that Ukraine’s claims are different from the claims that NATO must have of itself and its structures,” the minister continued. Nevertheless, all NATO members have repeatedly said clearly that Ukraine’s future lies within NATO, “and there is absolutely no doubt about that and no reason to move away from it.”
Pistorius also stated that criticism of Germany for its lack of commitment and lack of speed in helping Ukraine in the Russian war of aggression was a thing of the past. “There was this phase when Germany was criticized for doing too little,” the minister replied to a journalist’s question. This criticism “has not existed for at least six to eight months”.
According to Zelenskyy, too, Germany is now Ukraine’s second largest supporter after the United States. “I don’t see any room for criticism there,” Pistorius continued. “We take care of the Leopard coalition. Ukraine’s air defense would be unthinkable without us.”