Ukraine’s counteroffensive on the battlefield may only be inching forward but the formidable western alliance backing Kyiv is gaining in strength. News broke the night before the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit opened in Vilnius that Turkey had withdrawn its objections to Sweden joining the alliance, marking a big stride towards a united front that the group has been keen to project. Ankara will ask its parliament to advance Stockholm’s membership in NATO as soon as possible, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said. If things now go forward as planned, NATO’s northern expansion will mark the latest in a series of changes in the European security architecture since Russia’s war prompted governments across the continent to shed decades-old reticence on defence spending and ramp up military postures.
Turkey’s decision appears to augur well for NATO as it tries to put together a comprehensive regional plan to protect against any Russian attacks and boost defence spending. But differences persist over Ukraine’s bid to become a member of the grouping, and it seems that it will be virtually impossible for Kyiv to join NATO before the war ends. It appears almost certain that while Western heavyweights have no problem in continuing to back Ukraine militarily through the steady supply of hardware, they will stop short of allowing Volodymyr Zelensky to join its ranks and benefit from its iron-clad security guarantees. NATO must be keenly aware of how inducting Ukraine will risk a potentially full-blown conflict with Moscow. Mr Zelensky is unhappy but appears conciliatory. How Vladimir Putin reacts to this new NATO move will be the one to watch.
