U.S., Germany Reject Eastern European Push for Immediate NATO Membership for Ukraine

Russia has called Ukraine's membership its ultimate red line, and would go to war to prevent it

The U.S. and Germany, two of the most powerful militaries in NATO and the biggest backers of Ukraine’s war against Russia, have rejected calls by smaller Eastern European countries to invite Kyiv to join NATO because of fear that it would result in Moscow going to war with the military alliance, according to a report.

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Foreign Policy reported that the U.S. and Germany are fighting behind the scenes against the effort. Poland and the Baltic states, which wanted war against Russia for months, have been the biggest proponents of the move.

The report said:

Officials in both countries insist that Ukraine should join NATO eventually, but that now isn’t the time to start the process. They said they believe the immediate focus should be on continuing to supply Ukraine with weapons and munitions to keep up the fight against Russia in the near term.

Jens Stoltenberg, the head of NATO, said last year that Ukraine will eventually become a member of the alliance, but should be taken as “a long-term perspective.”

Alexander Venediktov, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, called Ukraine’s membership would guarantee a world war. 

“Kyiv is well aware that such a step would mean a guaranteed escalation to a World War III,” he said. He continued, “We must remember: a nuclear conflict will affect absolutely the whole world, and not only Russia and the collective West, but in general, any country on this planet. Its consequences will be catastrophic for all mankind.”

One of the key benefits of NATO membership is the protection under Article 5, which provides that if a NATO Ally is the victim of an armed attack, every other member of the Alliance would consider it as an attack on all members and will take the actions it deems necessary to assist the Ally attacked. Stoltenberg has pointed out in the past that Ukraine is a NATO partner, not an ally.

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the U.S. and NATO for their aggression before the invasion.

“We saw how the military infrastructure was unfolding, how hundreds of foreign advisers had begun to work there, with the most modern weapons being regularly delivered from NATO countries,” he said at a Victory Day speech. “The danger was growing every day. Russia offered a pre-emptive rebuff to the aggression—this was a forced, timely move and the only correct decision, one taken by a strong and independent country.” 

Putin noted the 1990 declaration that “it is written in black and white that Ukraine is a neutral state” and he called its neutrality “of fundamental importance.”

“Why the West began to drag Ukraine into NATO is not very clear to us. But this created, in our opinion, a fundamental threat to our security,” Putin said.

About three weeks before the first Russian tank rolled into Ukraine, we forecast that, “Despite its bluster, NATO is not interested in taking on Ukraine as a member, and everyone knows this, so it is unclear why the Alliance is grandstanding on the matter.”

When Zelensky reapplied for membership in September 2022, Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, told reporters that it was not the right time.

TREND FORECAST: Russia sees Ukraine as the ultimate red line and considers the West’s military relationship with Ukraine as an existential threat and is willing to go to war over the issue.

The irony is that NATO does not want Ukraine as a member because it means a fight with Russia and the official start of WWIII. 

The only reason Western governments can continue to sell the talking point that Putin envisions himself as the second coming of Peter the Great is because of Presstitutes in the Western media. 

Readers of The Trends Journal understand that the conflict is much more nuanced than is being reported. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who made a fortune working with defense contractors when he’s not in politics, failed to recognize Russia’s legitimate security concerns about NATO expansion in Ukraine. Russia saw the West’s military relationship with Ukraine as an existential threat and was willing to go to war.

Putin said in 2005 that the break-up of the Soviet Union was "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] Century."

Five years before Putin made that comment, he sat down for an interview with the BBC and floated the idea of Russia joining NATO.

“Why not? Why not?” Putin said, according to The Washington Post at the time. “I do not rule out such a possibility…in the case that Russia’s interests will be reckoned with, if it will be an equal partner.”

He went on to say that Russia is “part of European culture.” He said it is “difficult to imagine NATO “as an enemy.”

Putin acknowledged for the first time in a video address earlier this year that he inquired about NATO membership with then-President Bill Clinton during his U.S. counterpart’s visit to Moscow. Putin said he asked how a Russian membership would go over in the U.S.

“I would not give you all the details of that conversation,” Putin said. “But the reaction to my conversation -- look, well, let me put it this way. How did Americans really look at this possibility? You can see it in their practical stance. Open support of the terrorists in North Caucusus, ignoring our demands and concerns, withdrawing from the arms limitation treaties, and so on.”

Clinton did not respond to the Trends Journal at the time for comment.

There’s another video floating around on YouTube that shows Vladimir Pozner Jr., the French-born Russian-American journalist, addressing Yale University and mentioning how Putin’s NATO ambitions were refused by the alliance.

Pozner said one of the first things Putin did was ask for Russia to become a member.

“Why not be a member of NATO? NATO was created to defend Europe and perhaps not only Europe from Soviet aggression, from a country that you couldn’t predict. There is no more Soviet Union, and there is no more Warsaw Pact. Why can’t we create an organization where we are part of it, said Mr. Putin, and act together to protect from some kind of aggression. He was told, ‘Go take a walk,’ basically,” Pozner said.