“On January 7, Donald Trump said that he understands Russia’s feelings about NATO expansion in the context of Ukraine”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“Bilateral security guarantees developed during the Biden administration are fundamentally weak and unconvincing. I don’t think that they will in any way influence the thinking of Vladimir Putin… I don’t think that there is any possibility that Putin will simply stop the attack if Ukraine is not in NATO»Volker said in an interview with Radio Svoboda.
The diplomat believes that even all of Ukraine’s bilateral agreements on security commitments signed with partner countries (Volodymyr Zelenskyi said there are 27 of them) will not save it from Russia’s attack in the future.
“Before getting membership in the alliance, you could get a combination of military assistance, the presence of soldiers on the ground, the commitment of support and the participation of allies in ensuring air defense… But they (interim security guarantees – ed.) cannot be endpoints in themselves… It shouldn’t just be about keeping things in limbo. The security guarantees that Ukraine needs are membership in NATO»– remarked Volker.
The former high-ranking official of the US State Department, appointed at one time to the post by Donald Trump, considers Ukraine’s membership in NATO a realistic goal and says that “it should not be removed from “menu» options».
“In order to make it (membership – ed.) possible for Ukraine, European countries will need to convince Washington that they will bear the burden that will follow… The United States currently pays about half of all military expenses of Ukraine. If Ukraine is brought into NATO and a corresponding joint fund is created for it, in this case the share of US costs would be limited to twenty percent»– emphasized the former special representative for Ukraine.
According to Volker, Europe’s taking this part of the costs of supporting Ukraine “Donald Trump should welcome». At the same time, Trump’s former special envoy to Ukraine criticized the US president-elect’s statement about “understanding Russia’s feelings» regarding Ukraine’s potential membership in NATO.
“In my opinion, it is an unfortunate statement to say that you understand Russia’s feelings on this issue… I consider it unacceptable. It is not a matter of understanding or not. No one has the right to attack, kill and torture as Putin did»Volker summed up.
On January 7, Donald Trump held a press conference where he discussed, in particular, the war in Ukraine, the role of NATO and relations with Russia. Trump said at the time that he understood Russia’s feelings about NATO expansion in the context of Ukraine.