Vladimir Putin faces the ultimate humiliation if Ukraine is fully admitted to NATO. The world’s largest military alliance meets in The Hague next week as the world teeters on the brink of all-out war.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will warn of the threat posed by Kremlin tyrant Putin, and an axis of evil including China, North Korea and Iran, and what his bloodthirsty rampage means for Europe and the world.
After three years of attrition and more than 250,000 deaths, Ukraine’s membership of the 32-country club is poised to be rubber-stamped.
A spokesman said: “The security of Ukraine is of great importance to NATO and its member states. The alliance fully supports Ukraine’s inherent right to self-defence, and its right to choose its own security arrangements. Ukraine’s future is in NATO.
“Relations between NATO and Ukraine date back to the early 1990s and have since developed into one of the most substantial of NATO’s partnerships.
“Since 2014, in the wake of Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, cooperation has been intensified in critical areas. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, NATO and allies have provided unprecedented levels of support.”
Ukraine is a NATO partner country, which means it cooperates closely with the alliance, but it is not covered by the security guarantee in its founding treaty.
NATO is helping Ukraine defend itself against “Russia’s war of aggression” with allies supplying 99% of all military aid to the besieged country.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was formed in 1949 to block the expansion in Europe of the former Soviet Union, the group of communist republics headed by Russia.
Membership rules state that if one is attacked, all others help defend it.
NATO does not have its own army, but military action by member countries constitutes a collective response.
The club has members across Europe and North America, including, after the Soviet Union fell in 1991, many Eastern European countries, including Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
In 2008, the alliance said Ukraine could eventually join, but Russia has opposed the idea, fearing it would bring Nato forces within touching distance of its borders.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded fast-tracked membership but was told approval would be given after the war ended.
That could now change after former Dutch Prime Minister Mr Rutte warned of the chilling impact of the threat from the East.
He said: “Because of Russia, war has returned to Europe. We also face the threat of terrorism and fierce global competition. Russia has teamed up with China, North Korea and Iran. They are expanding their militaries and their capabilities. Putin’s war machine is speeding up, not slowing down. Russia is reconstituting its forces with Chinese technology and producing more weapons faster than we thought. In terms of ammunition, Russia produces in three months what the whole of NATO produces in a year. And its defence industrial base is expected to roll out 1,500 tanks, 3,000 armoured vehicles and 200 Iskander missiles this year alone. Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years.
“China is also modernising and expanding its military at breakneck speed. It already has the world’s largest navy. And its battle force is expected to grow to 435 ships by 2030. China is also building up its nuclear arsenal. And it aims to have more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads also by 2030.”
At last year’s summit in Washington, member countries confirmed they would support Ukraine on its “irreversible path to NATO membership”.