NEW YORK, November 26. /TASS/. Kiev should give up the idea of joining NATO and make possible accession to the European Union its priority, former Defense Secretary and ex-CIA director Leon Panetta told CNN.
"NATO obviously has its own rules that apply to NATO, and to basically say that NATO ought not to seek additional members," he said, commenting on the US plan for resolving the conflict in Ukraine. "Probably the best way to deal with this is for Ukraine to indicate at this point that it's not going to seek membership. Rather, it's going to join the European Union, which probably makes more sense at this point."
Kiev has repeatedly emphasized its desire to become a full-fledged member of the alliance as soon as possible. In September 2022, Ukraine submitted an application to join NATO on a fast-track basis. This January, Zelensky complained that Hungary, Germany, Slovakia, and the US opposed Ukraine's accession to NATO. In March, US President Donald Trump said that everyone already knows the answer to Ukraine's aspirations to join the alliance, adding that Ukrainians have known this answer for 40 years.
Last week, Washington put forward its 28-point plan on Ukrainian settlement. According to Western media reports, the initial version of the American plan envisioned Ukraine pledging not to join NATO and the alliance committing not to integrate Kiev, recognition by the United States and other countries of Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea and Donbass, the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the Donetsk People’s Republic, the granting of official status to the Russian language in Ukraine, limitations on the size of the Ukrainian army, and the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions. EU leaders expressed disagreement with several of the points and announced the development of counterproposals.