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Ukraine will have to pause its NATO application to achieve peace — expert

Walter Dorn also believes that Ukraine’s authorities should also cease attempts to reclaim lost territories by force

NEW YORK, June 14. /TASS/. Ukraine will have to pause its NATO application in order to resolve the ongoing crisis, stated a professor Walter Dorn of the Royal Military College of Canada in an article for The New York Times.

"As part of a peace agreement, Ukraine may also have to pause its NATO application and promise not to join for a number of years, say five to 10," Dorn noted. In his view, this step would not be difficult for Kiev to take, "because NATO members are still far from united on allowing a nation at war into the alliance."

Moreover, the expert believes that Ukraine’s authorities should also cease attempts to reclaim lost territories by force. As neighbors, Russia and Ukraine will need to develop agreements for peaceful coexistence, which will allow them to resolve future disagreements, he argued.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin listed four conditions for negotiations with Ukraine at a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry, including the withdrawal of the Ukrainian armed forces from Donbass and Novorossiya and Kiev’s refusal to join NATO. According to him, Russia wants its neighbor Ukraine to be neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear, as well as expects the West to lift its illegal sanctions.