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Ukraine’s accession to NATO risks sparkling 'all-out war,' ex-NATO chief warns

Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo also warned NATO nations against escalating the conflict in Ukraine

LONDON, April 5. /TASS/. Ukraine’s accession to NATO risks sparking an all-out war, the bloc’s former Secretary General Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo warned.

"There's always the danger of another world," he said in an interview with the Sun. "I'm not sure that to enlarge NATO with Ukraine is the best response" to the current threats, Minuto-Rizzo added. "There is no need at all to have Ukraine as a NATO member. I'm not sure that it will support the strength of the alliance," he emphasized.

"If Ukraine becomes a NATO member, then immediately you change the character of the war - it will be a war of Russia against NATO countries," the bloc’s former chief pointed out.

Minuto-Rizzo also warned NATO nations against escalating the conflict in Ukraine. "The logic is to defend Ukraine at the maximum, to support Ukraine economically... but at the same time without aggression in Russia. <...> If you have NATO sending troops into Ukraine, it will change the course of the war," he added.

NATO Military Committee Chair Admiral Rob Bauer said earlier that Ukraine could hardly expect to be invited to join NATO at the bloc’s summit set to take place in Washington in July due to the position of some member states.

Ukraine announced a fast-track NATO membership bid in September 2022. The North Atlantic Alliance expressed confidence that Ukraine would become a member in the future but added that the country would join the bloc once there was a consensus among all member states and all conditions were met. The alliance has repeatedly said that it is impossible for Kiev to join NATO as long as the conflict continues.

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