"We do not agree that this will provoke a conflict with Russia": more than 150 scientists call on NATO to invite Ukraine to join

More than 150 scientists from around the world sent an open letter to the North Atlantic Alliance calling for Ukraine's membership. They are convinced that the terrorist state is opposed only because it will prevent its further aggression.

The document was published by The Guardian. It states that the idea that providing Ukraine with security guarantees will further encourage Russia to wage this war brutally is unfounded. The aggressor state is fully determined to destroy our country and does not need additional motivation to do so.

"Secondly, it is a fact that Russia has not attacked any NATO member. Instead, it has threatened, invaded, and occupied countries that are not members of the Alliance: Georgia, Moldova, and now Ukraine," the authors of the letter argued.

It is noted that the territorial border between NATO member and non-member countries is still the only red line that Russia respects, even though it violates numerous other international treaties and agreements. Russia's revived imperialist militarism can only be restrained by the existence of a much stronger military alliance, the scholars believe.

"It is naive to assume that meeting Russia's demands will resolve the war or somehow de-escalate it. Impunity for Russia's war crimes in Syria, Georgia, and Ukraine has only emboldened the Kremlin," the letter said.

The scientists emphasized that there is still time for the most powerful military alliance in the world to make a historically and politically justified decision to neutralize the existential threat posed to Ukraine by Russia.

"Sacrificing Ukraine to avoid a war between NATO and Russia only increases the likelihood of such a war, as well as subsequent wars, as Russia will conclude that NATO's vaunted Article 5 is negotiable if a wider war can be averted," the document says.

"Inviting Ukraine to join NATO would mark a definitive departure from the policy of appeasement and a return to the rule of international law and the protection of human rights. The decision to provide Ukraine with security guarantees will not only protect the Ukrainian state by the only means that has so far proved successful, but will also confirm that NATO and Western democracies are effective political agents on the world stage," the scholars concluded.

Earlier, the British newspaper The Guardian published an open letter in which representatives of some universities in Europe and the United States called for Ukraine not to be invited to join NATO. They believe that it would be "unwise" to do so because of the risk of a war between the Alliance and Russia. The document was signed by 61 people.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

– Ukrainian diplomat Andrii Deshchytsia believes that Ukraine has a fairly high chance of being invited to NATO during the next summit of the Alliance, which will be held in June 2025 in The Hague. The path to NATO is a long one, and lobbyists among partners should be involved, but Ukrainians have no alternative to membership in the North Atlantic Alliance.

– Ukrainian Foreign Minister Mykola Kuleba said that at the NATO summit in Washington, Ukraine received significant support from its partners both in the area of military assistance and in terms of the irreversibility of membership in the Alliance. However, our country expects to be able to join the bloc as soon as possible – we do not have the opportunity to wait another 75 years for membership.

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