Ukraine will not abandon NATO membership nor accept "alternative options", Ukraine's foreign minister says

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has asserted that Ukraine considers joining NATO to be the single most effective guarantee of security for itself.

Sybiha noted in an interview with European Pravda that Kyiv's position on its aspiration to join NATO is firm, the course of joining NATO has long been enshrined in the Constitution and a convincing majority of Ukrainian society supports Ukraine's membership in the Alliance. 

"NATO membership is the only effective security guarantee for Ukraine. Furthermore, Ukraine's membership guarantees NATO's security. On top of that, Ukraine's full membership is, pardon my cynicism, the cheapest way for NATO to safeguard European security," Sybiha said.

Sybiha expressed this in response to a question regarding alternative guarantees that Ukraine may be offered during negotiations on a comprehensive peace agreement. 

"We have already gone through ‘alternative options’. We have seen how the Budapest Memorandum failed. The creation of any ‘grey areas’ only leads to further escalation. That is why Ukraine's membership in NATO is an unwavering priority and the only effective guarantee of security for our country," he added.

Sybiha recalled a conversation with a foreign colleague who attended the summit in Bucharest in 2008, where a decision could have been made to grant Ukraine and Georgia a Membership Action Plan.  Sybiha's colleague stated that Putin then directly threatened European leaders with occupying Ukraine if such a decision was made.

"As we know, the Alliance then showed weakness and historical short-sightedness. And what did we see afterward? Russia occupied Georgia, then occupied and annexed Crimea, and now we have a full-scale war. These mistakes must not be repeated. We need strong decisions that will create strategic guarantees for transatlantic security. And this is Ukraine's membership in NATO," Sybiha stressed. 

He went on to say that other instruments, such as bilateral security agreements with allies, are part of Ukraine's preparation for NATO membership and a tool for strengthening it, but they can not substitute membership.

Sybiha also noted that Ukraine has not abandoned the principle of not negotiating personally with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin.