NATO summit to offer Kiev only more promises, not membership — expert
According to Andrey Bystritsky, Kiev can count on continued financial and logistical assistance from the alliance, but only on a limited scale
MOSCOW, July 10. /TASS/. Kiev will not receive any guarantees to join NATO at the alliance's summit in Washington, instead Ukraine will get "a cocktail of declarations and propaganda," Andrey Bystritsky, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai International Discussion Club, told TASS.
"No one is going to admit Ukraine to NATO at this summit. There will be no solutions related to admission, guarantees, deadlines. However, the summit participants will make statements: a very tricky cocktail of declarations, propaganda and so on. That is, this is a typical Western-style political event. There is a great distance between words and deeds," the expert said.
According to him, Kiev can count on continued financial and logistical assistance from the alliance, but only on a limited scale. "Military support will be provided, but it will be quite cautious. Western countries, especially the United States, are very wary of being dragged into the conflict directly. The aggressiveness of the West is growing, we should not have any illusions. A creeping escalation, which is quite rapid, is still taking place. But no huge arms deliveries will take place," Bystritsky explained.
The analyst pointed out that NATO seeks to expand its area of influence near Russia's borders. The invitation of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia to the summit in Washington demonstrates the destructive nature of the alliance's activities, Bystritsky said. "NATO is becoming a more and more aggressive alliance. They are determined to increase their influence, they want to divide the world, they want confrontation. This is a very dangerous trend," he continued.
"NATO is not an instrument of peacekeeping for everyone at all. On the contrary, it is a tool to divide everyone into opposing sides by exacerbating conflicts," he said.
The NATO summit is taking place in Washington, D.C. on July 9-11. This year the organization is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty. The summit will discuss the creation of a new structure to help Kiev in Wiesbaden and building a "bridge to NATO" for Ukraine, which will allow it to become a member of the alliance when it has the political will to do so. Representatives of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and other states have been invited to the summit.