Rasmussen: Ukraine free to seek NATO membership

Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said Ukraine is free to pursue membership of the Western alliance despite Russian opposition.

He told press in Brussels on Friday (29 August): “I’m not going to interfere in political discussions in Ukraine. But let me remind you of Nato’s decision at the Bucharest summit in 2008, according to which Ukraine ‘will become a member of Nato,’ provided of course, Ukraine so wishes and fulfills the necessary criteria”.

“We adhere to the principle that each and every country has the right to decide [its foreign and security policy] for itself without interference from the outside”.

Rasmussen spoke after an emergency meeting of Nato ambassadors with Ukraine’s envoy to the Western bloc.

He also spoke after Ukraine PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk earlier on Friday promised to pass a bill to scrap Ukraine’s non-aligned status. Yatsenyuk said the move is due to Russian “aggression” and would “resume” his country’s “course for Nato membership”.

Rasmussen noted Ukrainian accession was not discussed at Friday’s meeting.

But he corroborated Kiev’s allegations the Russian army has invaded south-east Ukraine: “Russian forces are engaged in direct military operations inside Ukraine … This defies all efforts for a peaceful solution”, he said.

He added that some Nato states Friday pledged funds to build up Ukraine military logistics, command and control capabilities, cyber-defence capacities, and medical care for wounded soldiers.

He also said the Nato summit in Wales next week, to be attended by Ukraine leader Petro Poroshenko, “will address how we will enhance our co-operation with Ukraine”.

Despite the 2008 Bucharest declaration, there is little appetite inside Nato for Ukraine, or other aspirants, such as Georgia or Montenegro, to move closer to membership in the current security climate.

Germany and France in 2008 blocked a decision to give Ukraine and Georgia a so-called Membership Action Plan, a first step to joining Nato, despite US pressure to go ahead.

The US and Germany this week said they are ready to fight for Nato members such as Estonia or Latvia in line with the alliance’s Article V on mutual defence.

But US leader Barack Obama on Thursday made clear once again that “we are not taking military action to solve the Ukrainian problem”, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week also said Ukraine's Nato membership "is not on the agenda".