Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak is convinced that only Ukraine's invitation to NATO membership, which our country seeks to obtain at the 75th NATO Summit in Washington in the summer of 2024, will give Europe and the world real chances to restore security, which is currently under threat due to Russia's aggressive policy.
He made this statement during a meeting of the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in Kyiv, dedicated to the second anniversary of the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The event was also attended by former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, public intellectuals, politicians, experts, and activists. Chairman of the YES Supervisory Board, President of Poland from 1995 to 2005, Aleksander Kwasniewski, moderated the meeting.
During the discussion with the participants, Andriy Yermak said that Ukraine is grateful to all nations that have united around its support since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
"Our struggle and this support have shown that the majority of people in the world are on the side of good. We see that this support remains at a very high level, and it is important to maintain it," he said.
One of the main topics of discussion was the prospect of Ukraine receiving an invitation to begin negotiations on NATO membership at the summit in Washington this summer.
Andriy Yermak emphasized that only an invitation for Ukraine would be a truly strong decision at the Alliance's anniversary summit.
The head of the Office of the President reminded that to advance this issue, the International Task Force on Security and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine was created, with Andriy Yermak and former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen as co-chairs.
The head of the President's Office noted that arguments suggesting that Ukraine's accession to NATO could lead to further escalation look strange to Ukrainians, as our country has been living in the conditions of the dreadful full-scale war for two years already.
"The failure to invite Ukraine to the Washington summit, we believe, could indeed trigger a new escalation – in the Middle East, in other regions of our planet. Only the invitation and real concrete steps towards Ukraine's full membership will give the world and Europe real chances to return to security," he said.
From his side, Boris Johnson, who is a member of the aforementioned task force, also expressed the belief that at the NATO summit this summer, Ukraine should receive an invitation to begin negotiations on membership in the Alliance.
"And we need to stop using the argument about escalation. The way to prevent escalation is to do much more to protect Ukraine," said the former Prime Minister of the UK.