Lithuanian lawyer says NATO may join war even before Ukraine's accession

NATO may decide to join the war in defense of Ukraine even before the country joins the military alliance.

Dainius Zalimas, the head of the Constitutional Court of Lithuania in 2014-2021 who currently serves as the dean of the Faculty of Law at Vytautas Magnus University and is a member of the Venice Commission, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"Even when the war drags on, I would not rule out that NATO will have to get involved in the war directly. And for this, Ukraine does not necessarily have to be a member of the alliance. Under the North Atlantic Treaty, states can decide to use military force outside of NATO. Such a case was in Yugoslavia. The only difference is that in the case of Russia we will be dealing with a nuclear power. But I would not rule out such a scenario," he said.

Asked what prevented Ukraine from getting a more concrete perspective for joining NATO during the summit in Lithuania, Zalimas said: "I believe that a better solution for Ukraine could have been found during the Vilnius summit. For example, to invite to negotiations regarding the entry, without stipulating a specific date. So it would be clear that the negotiations are starting."

At the same time, he said that "in fact, the biggest problem is the war." "If Ukraine is accepted into the alliance, it is necessary to join the war, therefore the member states do not want to make such legal obligations," he said.

Zalimas believes that the achievement of the Vilnius summit in relation to Ukraine is the rejection of a Membership Action Plan.

"Ukraine's membership of NATO is only a matter of time. No other security guarantees will be so effective," he said.