What Putin really wanted to prevent happened in Brussels. Jens Stoltenberg said that in the long term, NATO will help “Ukraine to move from Soviet-era equipment to modern NATO equipment.” The consequences will be far-reaching.

NATO wants to develop a ten-year plan for the full integration of the Ukrainian army and the country’s defense industry into the Western military architecture. The first details of the plan are to be clarified at a meeting next week, Der Tagesspiegel reports.

Until now, Ukraine used mainly equipment developed during the time of the former Soviet Union. This complicates the task of the West to ensure the supply of weapons and ammunition for defense against Russia. In addition, maintenance and supply of spare parts is a problem.

Politico magazine regarded the events as a kind of green light for joining NATO: Ukraine joins the alliance without actually becoming a member, without having to invoke the famous Article 5which states that an armed attack on one member is an attack on all.

Russia threatens that Ukraine’s accession to NATO means the third world war

Since the declaration of independence in 1991, after the collapse of the USSR, Kyiv’s leadership has been trying to join the North Atlantic Alliance. At the time, Ukraine was particularly powerful militarily: along with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, it was one of the former Soviet republics that possessed nuclear weapons. At the same time, it voluntarily renounced them, and Russia remained a nuclear power.

In the Budapest Memorandum (1994), Russia, the United States and Great Britain pledged to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty in return. However, no later than 2014, with the annexation of Crimea, these security guarantees proved useless. Many Ukrainian politicians and military leaders bitterly regretted giving up the nuclear arsenal, DW reports.

Ukraine’s accession to NATO could lead to the third world war, said Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Oleksandr Venediktov in an interview given on Thursday to the TASS agency, used by Reuters.

“Kyiv realizes that such a step (joining NATO, no) means a sure escalation towards the third world war,” Venediktov explained on Wednesday.

Volodymyr Zelensky officially requests Ukraine’s accession to NATO Photo: Handout / AFP / Profimedia

NATO’s plan will have profound consequences

1. Access to weapons and ammunition. The gap with Russia is closing

Thanks to this step, writes Der Tagesspiegel, Ukraine would gain access to a large part of the Western arsenal, and the products of the Western military industry could also enter the country.

In such a scenario, Kyiv should no longer fear a shortage of weapons and ammunition. Russia would no longer be such a superior opponent in terms of military equipment as it is today.

2. It needs political support

And one more important aspect: NATO, as an organization, does not have the ability to supply weapons or ammunition by itself; it should always be done by individual states. Therefore, support must be politically desirable. This would not automatically come to Ukraine, even if its army were brought up to Western standards.

3. Everyone will claim victory

Ukraine stands to gain significantly in terms of security and potential deterrence vis-à-vis Russia – and may even opt out of full NATO membership.

Russia, for its part, could claim that Ukraine did not become part of NATO. Moscow’s stated goal for many years has been to prevent this.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has applied for NATO membership and signed an application for accelerated entry into the 30-nation security alliance.

• Romania supports Ukraine’s accession to NATO
• Currently, Ukraine has the support of 10 countries in joining NATO