In an interview with The Guardian on October 4, former NATO Secretary General Jens Stltenberg stated that Ukraine could join NATO, even if some of its territory was still occupied by Russia.
One of the main reasons against Ukraine joining NATO at this time is that NATO Article 5‘s mutual defense clause would instantly draw the alliance into war with Russia.
Stoltenberg, in an interview with the Financial Times said that there may be ways around this problem if the Ukrainian territory included in NATO is “not necessarily” the internationally recognized border.
“When there’s a will to solve the problem, there are solutions.” “But you need a border that defines where Article 5 will be invoked. Ukraine must control the entire territory up to this border,” he said.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, said that as of late August, Russia controlled around 27% territory in Ukraine.
The Russian military is partially occupying the Donetsk oblast, Luhansk oblast, Kherson oblast, and Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Russia claims it has annexed all of these regions, despite only controlling two regional capitals – Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Moscow also controls the entire Crimean peninsula.
Stoltenberg used historical and contemporary examples to demonstrate that certain compromises or guarantees of security could be made in order to guarantee Ukraine’s protection.
“West Germany regarded East Germany was part of the larger Germany. They didn’t have a embassy in East Berlin. “But NATO was, ofcourse, only protecting West Germany,” said he.
“It is dangerous to compare, because no parallels can be 100% correct, but there are security guarantees from the U.S. to Japan.” They don’t cover Kuril (Islands), a territory that Japan considers to be Japanese and controlled by Russia.
Ukraine applied for NATO Membership in September 2022, but has not yet received a formal invitation.
Despite high hopes in Kyiv the last two allied Summits have only brought new steps towards deepening Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO and a declaration declaring that the country’s path to membership is “irreversible.”
Earlier, on October 1, however, FT, citing a Western official who was not named, reported that U.S. president Joe Biden could agree to advance Ukraine’s NATO bid before leaving office in early January.
Zelensky delivered his five-point plan of victory to Biden on September 26 at the White House. The plan includes both military and diplomatic elements, including Ukraine’s invitation for NATO membership. However, the full details of peace framework have yet to be released.
According to information obtained by The Kyiv Independent Kyiv planned to ask for NATO Membership within months, not years.
Stoltenberg said in a recent interview with FT that Ukraine’s allies could have prevented the invasion by supplying more arms to the country before the full-scale attack began.
“If there’s something I regret, and see more clearly now, it is that we should have given Ukraine much more military assistance much earlier,” he stated.
“I think that we can all agree that we should have given more weapons to the invaders before the invasion. We should have given them faster and more advanced weapons after the invasion.
“I accept my responsibility.”
Stoltenberg left his position as NATO General Secretary earlier this week. Mark Rutte will now take over the role.
According to the newspaper around 3 million missiles are shipped from Pyongyang each year to Moscow. However, a large number of them are believed to have been faulty.
The Russian forces have suffered 1,280 casualties in the last day alone.
Since the full-scale Russian invasion began on February 24th, 2022, pyrotechnic teams of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service detected and destroyed over 533.200 pieces of explosive ordnance.
Wladyslaw KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ, the Polish Defense Minister, said that Poland was ready to start training Ukrainian volunteers in September but the lack of volunteers delayed this.
Local authorities report that despite warnings from Ukrainian officials and Israeli officials regarding security risks, approximately 35,000 Jewish pilgrims travelled to Uman, in Cherkasy Oblast, to celebrate Rosh Hashana.
The Romanian border police discovered debris from a Russian Drone in the Litcov Canal area in the Danube Delta region of Romania on October 4. According to police, the area under investigation is in a rural area and no infrastructure has been damaged.
Supported by armored vehicles, the elite 155th & 40th marine brigades, also known as Black Berets of the Russian Armed Forces were involved in storming the city.
Yurii Belousov is the head of the war crimes department. He explained that 80 percent of these cases will be recorded in 2024. However, the trend was evident as early as last year.
During his visit, President Volodymyr Zelensky met with the Headquarters for the Supreme Commander in Chief to discuss the protection of infrastructure, Ukraine’s Energy Sector, and air defense.
Viasna, a human rights organization, reported on October 4 that the Minsk City Court had sentenced 12 people to prison for sabotage against the Machulishchy airfield in Belarus. The Viasna human rights group reported on Oct. 4 that the Minsk City Court sentenced 12 people to prison for sabotage of the Machulishchy military airfield in Belarus last year.
Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva praised his peace plan developed jointly with China in New York despite the proposal being already dismissed as “destructive”.
Bloomberg reports that the EU sanctions will target “about 12 individuals and entities”, which includes companies in the engineering, aviation, and metals sectors.
The agency stated that Andrii Korotkyi had been a collaborator in the organization and execution war crimes, as well as the repression and oppression of Ukrainians living under Russian occupation.
According to Estonian military intelligence, in the past week, there were an average of 167 Russian attacks per day on the frontline, with half of them aimed at the Donetsk side of the frontline.
Serhii Dobriak is the head of the military administration in Pokrovsk. He said that Russian forces were less than 7 km from the town of Pokrovsk, Donetsk oblast on Oct. 4.
State Bureau of Investigation stated that “Law enforcement agents found money in the apartment almost everywhere — in wardrobes and drawers as well as niches.”
According to the Russian Defense Ministry air defense shot down six Ukrainian drones in Voronezh Oblast. Six more were shot down over Belgorod Oblast. One was shot down over Rostov Oblast.
Sabrina Singh, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary, said: “The President (Joe Biden), has made an commitment that the United States will not put boots on the ground in Ukraine. However, we will support Ukraine’s efforts to reclaim their sovereign territory.”
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