Ukraine to be told it is too corrupt to join NATO
- In Reports
- 10:55 PM, Jul 03, 2024
- Myind Staff
The United States is set to inform Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine is too corrupt to join NATO, dealing a significant blow to the nation's security ambitions.
At its annual summit next week in Washington, D.C., the defence bloc will request that Ukraine takes 'additional steps before formal membership talks progress', a senior US official told the Telegraph.
Zelensky has been advocating for Ukraine's accession to NATO after Russia's brutal invasion ends, aiming to protect the country from future invasions. NATO's collective defence clause mandates its members to militarily defend allies if they come under attack.
But corruption, among other issues, has been a major thorn in the Ukrainian leader's side, blocking further relations with the West from developing.
In 2022, after Ukraine formally applied for EU accession, the EU Commission noted that while 'preventing and combating corruption has been particularly high on the Ukrainian reform agenda since the Revolution of Dignity' in 2014, 'corruption remains a serious challenge.'
Zelensky appears to be addressing the issue directly, especially within the military. In September, he dismissed all six of his deputy defence ministers without providing an explanation, following the earlier dismissal of his top defence minister.
The US has recognised his efforts, with a State Department official telling the Telegraph, 'We have to step back and applaud everything that Ukraine has done in the name of reforms over the last two-plus years.'
'As they continue to make those reforms, we want to commend them, we want to talk about additional steps that need to be taken, particularly in the area of anti-corruption. It is a priority for many of us around the table,' the source added.
NATO has provided Ukraine with a list of reforms that must be implemented before it can qualify for membership, and officials have indicated that Zelensky is actively working through these reforms.
“That’s something NATO has been doing quietly under the radar that helps them get closer to membership', a source said.
While Ukraine is advancing its relations with the West, Putin is also strengthening ties with China. The Russian leader is meeting with Xi Jinping at a Eurasian security and defence summit in Kazakhstan today.
Putin and the Chinese president have expanded the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), founded in 2001 with Russia, China, and Central Asian powers, to include India, Iran, and Pakistan. This expansion is seen as a move to establish a counterweight to Western influence.
Putin will hold a series of bilateral meetings on Wednesday on the sidelines of the July 3-4 SCO summit in the Kazakh capital, Astana, the Kremlin said.
Putin is scheduled to meet with Xi Jinping, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, and the leaders of Azerbaijan, Mongolia, and Pakistan before attending an informal dinner hosted by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
India has announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is anticipated to visit Moscow later this month, will not attend the SCO meeting. Instead, he will be represented by Foreign Minister S Jaishankar.
Russia and China view the SCO as a platform to promote shared approaches to external security challenges such as drug trafficking and to address domestic instability, thereby extending their influence across Asia.
"The leaders of the SCO member countries will discuss the current state and prospects for further deepening multifaceted cooperation within the organisation and improving its activities," the Kremlin said in a statement.
At last year's virtual summit, the group issued a statement critical of what it called the negative impact of "unilateral and unlimited expansion of global missile defence systems by certain countries or groups of countries", without directly referring to NATO expansion and Western military assistance to Ukraine.
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