NATO-2030 Concept Will Be Initially Weak Without Ukraine Within Internationally Recognized Borders - Reznikov

Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov believes that the Strategic Concept of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization until 2030, which is expected to be approved at the NATO summit at the end of June in Madrid (Spain), will be initially weak if it does not have a place for Ukraine within internationally recognized borders, including Donbas and Crimea. He wrote about this on Facebook, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

“The NATO Summit in Madrid will be of paramount importance. It is where the adoption of the NATO Strategic Concept 2030 is expected. I drew the attention of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to the fact that this Concept would be weak from the very beginning, if it fails to designate a clear place for Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. Among other things, this may encourage other actors that view armed aggression against an independent state as means for achieving their goals,” Reznikov wrote, commenting on his appeal to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on May 29.

He noted that at the end of June the result of Ukraine's efforts to influence the content of the concept will be visible, while the Ukrainian government will continue an intensive dialogue with partners at the bilateral level.

Reznikov also noted that during his appeal to the Parliamentary Assembly, NATO called on the members of the Alliance to take into account that there is no point in pushing Ukraine to decisions, the essence of which boils down to surrendering its own territory in order to temporarily appease Moscow, because this will only increase the appetite of the aggressor. He assured his partners that neither the Ukrainian government nor the Ukrainian people would take such steps.

Commenting on the current situation, the Minister noted that now Ukraine is going through a critical phase of the war, very bloody battles are going on in the east, the Ukrainian army does not have enough heavy weapons to drive back the enemy.

Reznikov, commenting on his international negotiations, reports that in the near future he expects further steps to support Ukraine from the United States and Poland.

At the same time, he emphasizes that every day of resistance strengthens confidence that Ukraine will survive and will definitely win.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the NATO summit will be held in Madrid on June 28-30, one of the main issues of which will be the adoption of the new NATO Strategic Concept until 2030 and the further development of the Alliance in the context of modern challenges for European and world security.

Reznikov will take part in the NATO meeting at the level of heads of defense departments on June 15-16 in Brussels.

42% of respondents polled by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in May agree to refuse to join NATO in exchange for security guarantees, 39% insist on joining the alliance.