At the upcoming summit, Ukraine will not be taken into NATO. However, it should be integrated into the European security system and engaged in EU security projects. The ceasefire regime could be monitored by a peacekeeping contingent of NATO on the territory of Ukraine.
James Bindenagel, former US Ambassador to Germany during Bill Clinton's presidency, professor at the Henry Kissinger Chair at the University of Bonn, and employee of the German Marshall Fund in the United States, spoke about it at "Apostrophe".
The NATO Vilnius summit must demonstrate solidarity in helping restore a stable and secure Europe. Peace means taking steps to ensure that Ukraine wins this war and reestablishes full control over its internationally recognized 1991 borders; and is fully anchored in the NATO and the European Union, security and economic arrangements that, from 1945 until 2014, made Europe a continent of peace, prosperity, and cooperation.
The easiest way to achieve credible security guarantees from the West for Ukraine and its sovereignty would be through the country's accession to NATO membership. NATO membership would guarantee the mutual assistance clauses of Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. After peace is established, renewed Russian aggression against Ukraine as a NATO member would trigger the alliance case and likely deter any attack. After all, the Putin regime's behavior to date has shown that NATO's deterrence - including nuclear deterrence - is still effective.
However, an early NATO accession of Ukraine in Vilnius is not likely. The hesitancy is that until the conflict ends, NATO membership would engage NATO in the Russian War. At the same time, NATO members should supply Ukraine with weapons – including longer-range fires such as ATACMS, Western fighter planes, and tanks – in sufficient quantities to prevail on the battlefield. Then, for credible security guarantees, a NATO "Membership Action Plan" is needed. It is first.
Second, NATO member country national troops (possibly as part of an international military force to monitor the cease-fire) and NATO military advisors from several nations (including Germany) should be permanently stationed in Ukraine.
Third, a no-fly zone should be established over Ukraine as part of international cease-fire monitoring.
NATO membership, followed by EU accession Article 42.7 of the EU Treaty, would apply for a European security guarantee. Even if, for various reasons, Ukraine's early accession to NATO is out of the question for the time being, EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova must be accelerated to secure security guarantees politically and combined with a comprehensive reconstruction program.
In doing so, the EU has all the instruments at its disposal within the framework of accession conditionality to promote democracy and the rule of law and combat the persistent corruption problem in Ukraine.
Finally, the country must be integrated into the EU's security institutions and instruments as soon as possible. EU membership includes the integration of Ukraine into the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) within the framework of the EU's Common Security and Defense Policy.
