Ukraine can win: Yermak and Rasmussen show the West how to avoid an endless war

To avoid an endless war against the terrorist state of Russia, the West must ensure Ukraine's long-term security. To do this, it is first necessary to provide our country with a clear prospect of NATO membership.

The Ukrainian military is capable of defeating the Russian occupiers on the battlefield, but much depends, among other things, on Western allies supplying the necessary weapons and equipment. Andrei Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, and former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen wrote about this in an article for the German magazine Spiegel.

After nearly a year and a half of war, Ukrainian troops have shown that they can fight back against the Russian occupiers and eventually defeat the Russian Federation on the battlefield. Now, however, it is time to think about how to ensure Ukraine's victory in this war and create the conditions for lasting peace.

"We cannot go back to what we had before February 24, 2022. Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine not because Ukraine should join NATO, but because it is stuck in receivership. The lack of NATO Article 5 protection or other important security guarantees led to the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II," Ermak and Rasmussen wrote in the article.

The authors of the article cited the example of Finland and Sweden, which have realized that there is no security in the so-called "gray zone" between NATO and Russia. Therefore, Ukraine also needs clarity on the issue of NATO membership, rather than repeating the open door policy, which in fact only opened the gates to Russian aggression.

Yermak and Rasmussen point out that if the West wants to avoid an endless war, it must work for Ukraine's long-term security. In particular, Ukraine's allies must back up promises of support with concrete commitments.

"EU membership must go hand in hand with NATO membership. In the face of a revanchist Russia, stability in Europe will come only when Ukraine is protected by NATO Article 5," the article says.

We shall remind you that the meeting of the NATO Military Committee was held on 10 May, where the strategic directions of the development of the alliance capabilities were discussed. The defense leaders of NATO member states also confirmed their support for Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression.

Earlier, it was reported that at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Ukraine hoped to receive a clear signal from the allies about the foreseeable prospect of joining the alliance. Kyiv would like to hear from its partners something more than the "open doors" of the Alliance.

As OBOZREVATEL reported, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky held talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto as part of a visit to that country. At the meeting of the presidents with the media, Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine's membership in NATO would be the strongest guarantee of security. However, as long as war is going on, Ukraine's membership in the alliance is impossible.

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