Ambassador Markarova: We are actively working with USA on Ukraine's NATO membership
Oksana Markarova, the ambassador of Ukraine in Washington, said this in an exclusive comment to Ukrinform.
"We are actively working on this issue on a constant basis. Our position has not changed for quite a long time," the ambassador noted.
Thus, she answered the question of what work is being done in the United States in the context of statements by the Ukrainian leadership about the need for Ukraine to receive an invitation for NATO membership as soon as at the summit in Vilnius.
Ukraine sees itself as a member of the European Union and a member of NATO, Markarova continued.
"We provide all the arguments. At the current stage, we need a result, so now, in the process of discussion, we cannot reveal everything that we are discussing," the ambassador noted.
According to her, Ukraine's position is very honest: "This is what we are striving for. We believe that Ukraine has a lot to offer NATO, not only to gain as a potential membership in the Alliance."
At the same time, the ambassador stressed that the rhetoric of other countries that Ukraine's membership in NATO can allegedly provoke even greater aggression from Russia has no logical basis.
"Let's speak fairly that neither NATO nor Ukraine - no one provoked Russia. They attacked Georgia unprovokedly, they also attacked us in 2014, and then in 2022," Markarova said.
The ambassador stressed that the position of open doors, declared at the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008, is understandable. Therefore, this is a matter of debate.
"NATO is a free organization of free countries. Therefore, we really need a consensus among everyone so that we can move forward. This is what we are working on," said the Ambassador.
As reported by Ukrinform, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said the day before that at the July NATO summit in Vilnius, Ukraine expects to receive a guarantee of invitation to join the Alliance after the end of the war with Russia, as the three key prerequisites for being a member of the Alliance have been successfully implemented.
