As NATO ministers meet, some members continue to oppose membership invitation for Ukraine

A Ukrainian delegation is attending the NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels on Dec. 3-4, hoping for an invitation to join the alliance, but recent statements and reports suggest that a consensus is unlikely.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who is present at the meeting, urged members to send the invitation this week as a step toward a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

Kyiv has previously rejected other security guarantees as substitutes for full membership, comparing them to the Budapest Memorandum from 1994 that failed to prevent aggression against the country.

An undisclosed NATO source told the Ukrainian Suspilne outlet that the U.S. and Germany continue to oppose inviting Ukraine at the moment, even though German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Dec. 3 that Kyiv's membership as a way to secure long-term peace is a conceivable possibility.

Hungary and Slovakia, whose leaders have consistently opposed military aid to Ukraine and called for a normalization of relations with Moscow, have publicly opposed inviting Kyiv to join the alliance.

Another NATO member joining the opposition is Luxembourg, whose Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said that Ukraine's accession would lead to the resumption of tensions, Der Spiegel reports. At the same time, Bettel spoke in favor of Ukraine joining the EU.

According to Politico's report from October, other countries, such as Belgium, Slovenia, and Spain, oppose Ukraine joining the alliance, even though they are less vocal about their stance.

Ukraine's accession would require a unanimous agreement among all the 32 members, and the recent entry process of Finland and Sweden showed that obstructions by even a small number of countries could prolong the process for months and even years.

Last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested ending the "hot phase" of war along Ukraine's eastern front in exchange for NATO membership, not immediately including occupied territories.

In separate comments on a potential invite on Dec. 1, Zelensky said that the alliance's Article 5 collective defense principle may not apply to Ukrainian territories facing active combat if Ukraine were to join NATO.

Ukraine won’t accept security guarantees substituting NATO membership

“Having the bitter experience of the Budapest Memorandum behind us, we will not settle for any alternatives, surrogates, or substitutes,” the Foreign Ministry said.

The Kyiv IndependentBoldizsar Gyori