Ukraine NATO bid offers pretext for conflict escalation with Russia — expert

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. The illusion of closer ties to NATO and the prospect of membership in the alliance were created by the West solely to encourage the Kiev regime to act against the Russian Federation, Alexander Stepanov, a military expert at the Institute of Law and National Security at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), told TASS, commenting on the final declaration of the NATO summit in Ankara.

"Nobody ever expected Kiev to join NATO. The illusion of closer ties and accession to the Alliance was created precisely to push and motivate the Kiev regime to act against the Russian Federation. This quasi-state entity has been and continues to be used as a key battering ram against Russia, as a springboard for projecting military threats," the expert said.

He said the West has created a mechanism for transforming relatively sovereign states into instruments of geopolitical confrontation, where statehood and sovereignty are ultimately lost. "This structure is being transformed into an externally controlled structure, supplied with weapons, and its population and security personnel are being used exclusively to achieve the geopolitical objectives of the external operator, up to and including the total elimination of this instrument at the final stage," Stepanov noted.

It was previously reported that the final declaration of the NATO summit in Ankara, held on July 7-8, made no mention of Ukraine’s possible admission to the alliance. The document merely outlined commitments to provide Kiev with financial assistance for 2026-2027. However, the document does not specify the exact amount of assistance that alliance countries will provide Kiev in 2027, instead using the term "equivalent."

"Any political prospects for joining the ‘friendly European family’ or the ‘reliable North Atlantic bloc’ were not foreseeable from the very beginning for the Kiev regime and its leaders. This project will exist as long as it can be used to project a military threat. Nothing more," the expert concluded.