Ukraine expects positive signals on NATO membership at Ramstein meeting - Korniyenko

Ukraine expects positive signals regarding advancement to full membership in NATO at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which is to be held at the leaders level at Ramstein this week.

Oleksandr Korniyenko, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, said this in Brussels during the European Policy Center's Talks Geopolitics discussion, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The time has come to share [Ukraine's] victory plan with our partners and to hear certain optimistic words from NATO regarding Ukraine's future membership. We all know about the alliance's 'open door policy' but we have to finally enter this open door. [...] Of course, we understand that this will be a political decision of the member countries. But all such political decisions must be based on a certain analysis, on specific indicators and proposals. The president and our entire team work on this every day," the Ukrainian politician said.

He added that the high level of representation during the upcoming meeting in the Ramstein format allows Ukraine to hope for important decisions. According to Korniyenko, a Ukrainian government delegation, which includes the leadership of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, is currently in Washington. It should provide partners with additional information and align the positions of the parties before the UDCG meeting so that Ukraine can receive certain optimistic news after the meeting.

Korniyenko emphasized that certain politicians in the partner countries raise legitimate questions on how ready Ukraine is for membership in NATO and what level of interoperability the Ukrainian Armed Forces have with the troops of the member countries.

"If we speak in a practical sense, the Ukrainian army is very close to the standards of the NATO armies, and it proved it, first of all, on the battlefield. There is also a certain formal side of the matter - we need to adopt the necessary legislation, for example, to introduce regulations on the organization of the work of headquarters. But this is very difficult to do during the war. Because it is necessary to manage the troops here and now, and not in the distant future. And as far as innovations and their application on the battlefield are concerned, the Ukrainian army is one of the first in the world in this regard," he said.

When asked about what security guarantees Ukraine can expect from the meeting at Ramstein, the politician noted that the best such guarantee could be full membership in NATO.

"We continue to strive for full membership. For us, any other form of Ukraine's cooperation with NATO would be very difficult to convey to society. We understand that this is a very political decision from the member states, some of them are talking about deterring Russia and the risk of escalation. But it is difficult to imagine a greater escalation than the one we already have now. We have already seen all forms of escalation, probably except nuclear escalation. That is why, as we expect, certain signals regarding full membership may come at this Ramstein meeting," Korniyenko said.

He noted that such signals might lead to the development of decisions made during this year's NATO summit in Washington, which was very important for confirming the unity of positions and Ukraine's future membership in the alliance. Currently, according to the Ukrainian politician, it is time to move on and determine the conditions under which Ukraine can start a practical movement toward full membership in the military alliance.