Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
I don't think Ukraine has officially applied to join NATO yet. They had an application and withdrew it before the annexation of Crimea by Russia. They have joined the enhanced partnership program with NATO in 2020 (other countries in the program include South Korea, Colombia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Mongolia, and Pakistan) and then passed legislation last month that makes NATO membership the goal of the current government, but as far as I know, they haven't gone through an official application process for joining.
NATO has a policy that any European country can apply to join, so nothing is stopping them from doing that except for the current political situation. But until they go through the democratic process within their own government structure, NATO can't just admit them in. There are also going to be a few current NATO members that will argue against it.
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Ya, you're bang on the technicalities - and I suspect the fact it has to be unanimous would get in the way, but I was moreso thinking from a "nuclear option" (ie Ukraine applies and Nato covenes special meeting to instant approve sort of thing). That or a few Nato countries post up in Ukraine unilaterally.
That said, like Crimea, stopping Putin from annexing an area that Russian citizens already control is basically impossible without full on war, so really, the separatist areas of the Donbas are toast. Suspect we'll see Russian soldiers there in short order in a defensive posture, and applications to become federal subjects by Donetsk and Luhansk shortly thereafter.