Ukraine–NATO relations

Ukraine-NATO relations

NATO	Ukraine

Relations between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) started in 1994. Ukraine applied to begin a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) in 2008. Plans for NATO membership were shelved by Ukraine following the 2010 presidential election in which Viktor Yanukovych, who preferred to keep the country non-aligned, was elected President. Amid the Euromaidan unrest, Yanukovych fled Ukraine in February 2014. The interim Yatseniuk Government which came to power initially said, with reference to the country's non-aligned status, that it had no plans to join NATO. However, following the Russian military invasion in Ukraine and parliamentary elections in October 2014, the new government made joining NATO a priority.

At the June 2021 Brussels Summit, NATO leaders reiterated the decision taken at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Ukraine would become a member of the Alliance with the Membership Action Plan (MAP) as an integral part of the process and Ukraine's right to determine its own future and foreign policy, of course without outside interference. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also stressed that Russia will not be able to veto Ukraine's accession to NATO, as we will not return to the era of spheres of interest, when large countries decide what smaller ones should do.

According to polls conducted between 2005 and 2013, Ukrainian public support of NATO membership remained low. However, since Russian military intervention in Ukraine and Crimea, public support for Ukrainian membership in NATO has risen greatly. Since June 2014, polls showed that about 50% of those asked supported Ukrainian NATO membership. Some 69% of Ukrainians want to join NATO, according to a June 2017 poll by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation, compared to 28% support in 2012 when Yanukovich was in power.

History of relations

Ukrainian APC along a highway from Al Kut to As Suwayrah in Iraq (late 2003)

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Victoria Nuland at the NATO–Ukraine consultations in Vilnius, Lithuania, on October 24, 2005

Relations officially began when Ukraine became the first CIS country to enter NATO's Partnership for Peace program in February 1994. In the summer of 1995 NATO stepped up to help to mitigate consequences of the Kharkiv Drinking Water Disaster. This was the first cooperation between NATO and Ukraine. On May 7, 1997 the first-ever official NATO Information and Documentation Center opened in Kyiv, aimed to foster transparency about the alliance. A Ukrainian public opinion poll of May 6 showed 37% in favor of joining NATO with 28% opposed and 34% undecided. On July 9, 1997, a NATO-Ukraine Commission was established. In 2002 relations with the government of the United States and other NATO countries deteriorated after one of the recordings made during the Cassette Scandal revealed an alleged transfer of a sophisticated Ukrainian defense system to Saddam Hussein's Iraq. At the NATO enlargement summit in November 2002, the NATO–Ukraine commission adopted a Ukraine–NATO Action Plan. President Kuchma's declaration that Ukraine wanted to join NATO (also in 2002) and the sending of Ukrainian troops to Iraq in 2003 could not mend relations between Kuchma and NATO. Currently, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are working with NATO in Iraq.

After the Orange Revolution in 2004 Kuchma was replaced by President Viktor Yushchenko who is a keen supporter of Ukraine's NATO membership. In January 2008 the second Yulia Tymoshenko cabinet's proposal for Ukraine to join NATO's Membership Action Plan was met with opposition. A petition of over 2 million signatures has called for a referendum on Ukraine's membership proposal to join NATO. The opposition have called for a national referendum to be held on any steps towards further involvement with NATO. In February 2008 57.8% of Ukrainians supported the idea of a national referendum on joining NATO, against 38.6% in February 2007.

Ukrainian bid to join the NATO Membership Action Plan

In January 2008, US Senator Richard Lugar said: "Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Parliamentary Chairman Arsenii Yatseniuk have signed the statement calling for consideration on Ukraine's entry into the NATO membership action plan at the Bucharest summit."

The Ukrainian parliament headed by Arsenii Yatseniuk was unable to hold its regular parliamentary session following the decision of the Parliamentary Opposition to prevent the parliament from functioning in a protest against joining NATO. The parliament was blocked from January 25, 2008 till March 4, 2008 (on 29 February 2008 faction leaders agreed on a protocol of mutual understanding). US President George W. Bush and both nominees for President of the United States in the 2008 election, U.S. senator Barack Obama and U.S. senator John McCain, did offer backing to Ukraine's membership of NATO. Russian reactions were negative.

Bucharest summit: 2008–2009

  NATO member countries

  Countries in the process of accession

  Countries promised invitations

  Membership is not the goal

  Countries have not announced their membership intentions

At the NATO summit in Bucharest in April 2008, NATO decided it would not yet offer membership to Georgia and Ukraine; nevertheless, Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that Georgia and Ukraine would eventually become members. Resistance was reportedly met from France and Germany.

In November 2008, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime-Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Ukrainian minister of defence Anatolii Hrytsenko doubted Ukraine would be granted membership of MAP in December 2008. In a Times of London interview in late November, President Yushchenko stated : "Ukraine has done everything it had to do. We are devoted to this pace. Everything else is an issue of political will of those allies who represent NATO." Although NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary-General Aurelia Bouchez and NATO's Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer still supported Ukraine's NATO bid at the time the Bush administration seemed not to push for Georgian and Ukrainian membership of MAP late November 2008. President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev responded that "reason has prevailed". On December 3, 2008 NATO decided it will work out an Annual National Programme of providing assistance to Ukraine to implement reforms required to accede the alliance without referring to MAP.

At the NATO-Ukraine consultations at the level of Defense Ministers held at the NATO headquarters in Brussels in November 2009, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen praised Ukraine's first Annual National Program, which outlined the steps it intended to take to accelerate internal reform and alignment with Euro-Atlantic standards, as an important step on Ukraine's path to becoming a member of the Alliance.

Yanukovych Presidency (2010–2014)

Candidate during the 2010 presidential election and Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych stated during 2010 presidential election-campaign that the current level of Ukraine's cooperation with NATO was sufficient and that the question of the country's accession to the alliance was therefore not urgent.

Following the election, on 14 February 2010, the newly elected President Viktor Yanukovych said that Ukraine's relations with NATO were currently "well-defined", and that there was "no question of Ukraine joining NATO". He said the issue of Ukrainian membership of NATO might "emerge at some point, but we will not see it in the immediate future."

On 1 March 2010, during his visit to Brussels, Yanukovych said that there would be no change to Ukraine's status as a member of the alliance's outreach program. He later reiterated during a trip to Moscow that Ukraine would remain a "European, non-aligned state."

As of May 2010, NATO and Ukraine continued to cooperate in the frame of the Annual National Program, including joint exercises. According to Ukraine the continuation of Ukraine-NATO cooperation does not exclude the development of a strategic partnership with Russia.

On 27 May 2010, Yanukovych stated that he considered Ukraine's relations with NATO as a partnership, "And Ukraine can't live without this [partnership], because Ukraine is a large country".

On 3 June 2010, the Ukrainian parliament passed a bill proposed by the President that excluded the goal of "integration into Euro-Atlantic security and NATO membership" from the country's national security strategy. The law precluded Ukraine's membership of any military bloc, but allowed for co-operation with alliances such as NATO. "European integration" is still part of Ukraine's national security strategy.

On 24 June 2010, the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers approved an action plan to implement an annual national program of cooperation with NATO in 2010. This included:

• Involvement of Ukrainian aviation and transport material in the transportation of cargo and personnel of the armed forces of NATO's member states and partners participating in NATO-led peacekeeping missions and operations
• The continuation of Ukraine's participation in a peacekeeping operation in Kosovo
• Possible reinforcing of Ukraine's peacekeeping contingents in Afghanistan and Iraq
• Ukraine's participation in a number of international events organized by NATO
• Training of Ukrainian troops in the structures of NATO members

Ukraine and NATO continued to hold joint seminars and joint tactical and strategical exercises and operations during Yanukovych Presidency.

Petro Poroshenko (2014–2019)

Yanukovych fled Ukraine amid the Euromaidan uprising in February 2014. As a result of this revolution, the interim Yatseniuk Government came to power in Ukraine. The Yatseniuk Government initially stated it did not have the intention of making Ukraine a member of NATO.

Petro Poroshenko with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, February 2015

NATO officials vowed support for Ukraine and worked to downplay tensions between the bloc and Russia, which refused to recognize the impeachment of Yanukovych or the Yatseniuk Government. In late February 2014, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General of NATO, reaffirmed that NATO membership is still an option for Ukraine.

On 29 August 2014, following reports that the Russian military was operating within Ukraine, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arsenii Yatseniuk announced that he would ask the Ukrainian parliament to put Ukraine on a path towards NATO membership. The government has also signaled that it hopes for major non-NATO ally status with the United States, NATO's largest military power and contributor. As part of these efforts, and to rule out future Ukrainian membership in the Eurasian Economic Union and other Russian-led supranational entities, Yatseniuk also submitted a draft law to repeal Ukraine's non-bloc status previously instituted by Yanukovych. Following parliamentary elections in October 2014, the new government made joining NATO a priority.

Soldiers of the U.S. Army 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division train Ukrainian Soldiers on trigger squeeze during a 2016 drill.

On 23 December 2014, the Ukrainian parliament renounced Ukraine's non-aligned status, a step harshly condemned by Russia. The new law states that Ukraine's previous non-aligned status "proved to be ineffective in guaranteeing Ukraine's security and protecting the country from external aggression and pressure" and also aims to deepen Ukrainian cooperation with NATO "in order to achieve the criteria which are required for membership in the alliance". On 29 December 2014, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (elected president on 25 May 2014) vowed to hold a referendum on joining NATO.

A number of military exercises were planned between NATO members and Ukraine in 2015. Among them were Operation Fearless Guardian (total 2,200 participants, including 1,000 U.S. military). Initial personnel and equipment of the 173rd Airborne Brigade arrived in Yavoriv, Lviv Oblast, on 10 April 2015. Fearless Guardian would train Ukraine's newly formed National Guard under the Congress-approved Global Contingency Security Fund. Under the program, the United States were to train three battalions of Ukrainian troops over a six-month period beginning in April 2015, Others exercises include Exercise Sea Breeze 2015 (total 2,500 personnel of which 1,000 US military and 500 military from NATO or "Partnership for Peace" countries), "Saber Guardian/Rapid Trident – 2015" (total 2,100 members, including 500 US military and 600 NATO/PfP personnel), as well as the Ukrainian-Polish air exercise "Safe Skies – 2015" (total 350 participants, including 100 Polish military) and military police "Law and Order – 2015" (total 100 participants, 50 of which are Polish military).

In September 2015, NATO launched five trust funds for €5.4 million for the Ukrainian army. €2 million are planned to be sent for the modernization of communication systems, €1.2 million – to reform the logistic and standardization systems, €845 thousand – for physical rehabilitation and prostheses, €815 thousand for cyber defense, and €410 thousand for retraining and resettlement.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Petro Poroshenko, 10 July 2017

In March 2016, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker stated that it would take at least 20–25 years for Ukraine to join the EU and NATO. On 8 June 2017, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada passed a law making integration with NATO a foreign policy priority. In July 2017 Poroshenko announced that he would seek the opening of negotiations on a Membership Action Plan with NATO. In that same month President Poroshenko began proposing a 'patronage system', tying individual regions with European States.

On the 10th of March 2018, NATO added Ukraine in the list of NATO aspiring members (others including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia). Several months later, in late June, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada passed a National Security bill: the bill defines the principles of state policy on national security and defence as well as focusing on Ukraine's integration into the European security, economic and legal system; improvement in mutual relations with other states and eventual membership in EU and NATO.

On September 20, 2018, the Ukrainian parliament approved amendments to the constitution that would make the accession of the country to NATO and the EU a central goal and the main foreign policy objective.

On 7 February 2019, the Ukrainian parliament voted with a majority of 334 out of 385 to change the Ukrainian constitution in order to help Ukraine to join NATO and the European Union. After the vote, Ukrainian president Poroshenko declared: "This is the day when the movement of Ukraine to the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance will be consolidated in the Constitution as a foreign political landmark."

Volodymyr Zelenskyi (2019–2022)

On 12 June 2020, Ukraine joined NATO's enhanced opportunity partner interoperability program. According to an official, NATO statement the new status "does not prejudge any decisions on NATO membership."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg in June 2019

On October 8, 2020, during a meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi stated that Ukraine needs a NATO Membership Action Plan, as NATO membership will contribute to Ukraine's security and defense.

On December 1, 2020, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andrii Taran stated that Ukraine clearly outlines its ambitions to obtain the NATO Membership Action Plan and hopes for comprehensive political and military support for such a decision at the next Alliance Summit in 2021. Addressing the ambassadors and military attaches of NATO member states, as well as representatives of the NATO office in Ukraine, they were urged to inform their capitals that Ukraine would hope for their full politico-military support in reaching such a decision at the next NATO Summit in 2021. This should be a practical step and a demonstration of commitment to the 2008 Bucharest Summit.

At the end of November 2020, it became known that the NATO Summit in 2021 will consider the issue of returning to "open door policy", including the issue of providing Georgia with a Membership Action Plan (MAP). On February 9, 2021, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, stated that he hoped that Ukraine would be able to receive an action plan for NATO membership at the same time as Georgia. In response, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed during Prime Minister Shmyhal's visit to Brussels that Ukraine is a candidate for NATO membership.

Zelenskyi and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on 31 August 2021

On April 7, 2021, after the start of the build-up of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told a press conference with his Spanish counterpart Arancha González Laya that Lithuania intends to offer its NATO allies to provide Ukraine with a Membership Action Plan (MAP):

In the near future, we should again turn to our colleagues with a letter to consider the possibility of granting MAP to Ukraine. I am convinced, and we have already begun to discuss this issue with our colleagues from the Baltic states, NATO could repeat its proposal to provide Ukraine with a membership plan. This step will become a "strong signal for Russia", in particular, that Ukraine has chosen the transatlantic direction for itself, is appreciated and has support in the NATO countries. – emphasized Landsbergis.

For her part, the Spanish Foreign Minister, despite the fact that Ukraine is not a member of the Alliance, said that the Allies' relations with it are already "fruitful, useful and are a symbol of NATO's vision of a peaceful neighborhood." She also added that the issue of Ukraine should be discussed at the summit of the North Atlantic Alliance, which is scheduled for June this year.

Following in the footsteps of his Lithuanian counterpart, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs said that NATO should provide Ukraine with a membership action plan:

We are watching closely as Russia draws troops to Ukraine's borders. It is not clear at this time what this is: a show of force or real aggression. But there is every reason to worry ... Ukraine has been trying to join NATO for 15 years by obtaining an Membership Action Plan. Apparently, it is time to provide this Plan to Ukraine. This will be at least a signal from us [NATO] that Ukrainians will not be left without support. I will definitely support this decision...

Zelenskyi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

On April 10, 2021, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andrii Taran stated that the top priority of the Ukrainian political leadership is to obtain the Action Plan for Membership (MAP) in the North Atlantic Alliance in 2021. According to the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the most convincing and effective mechanism for communicating the position of the international community to Moscow is "accelerating the implementation of the decision of the 2008 NATO Bucharest Summit on our membership in the Alliance." Also receiving the MAP for Ukraine was supported by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a joint declaration of the Ninth High-Level Strategic Council between Ukraine and the Republic of Turkey.

At a briefing in Kyiv in May 2021, Democrat Senator Chris Murphy said at a briefing in Kyiv following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi that granting Ukraine a MAP would be the next logical step toward NATO membership. He stressed that Ukraine has already made several reforms necessary to become a member of NATO, as well as to carry out additional reforms. He also noted that if Ukraine and Georgia had received the MAP in 2008, there would have been no conflict with Russia at all:

I understand NATO's concern about the prospect of integrating with a country in conflict. But, frankly, if Ukraine and Georgia had received the MAP in 2008, I don't think there would have been a conflict at all.

Separately, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi called one of the potential threats that could strengthen Russia's position in Europe the failure to give Ukraine a clear signal and specific deadlines for obtaining an Action Plan for NATO membership.

At the June 2021 Brussels Summit, NATO leaders reiterated the decision taken at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Ukraine would become a member of the Alliance with the Membership Action Plan (MAP) as an integral part of the process and Ukraine's right to determine its own future and foreign policy course without outside interference. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also stressed that Russia will not be able to veto Ukraine's accession to NATO, as we will not return to the era of spheres of interest, when large countries decide what smaller ones should do:

Each country chooses its own path, and this also applies to joining NATO. It is up to Ukraine and the 30 NATO members to decide whether it aspires to be a member of the Alliance. Russia has no say in whether Ukraine should be a member of the Alliance. They cannot veto the decisions of their neighbors. We will not return to the era of spheres of interest, when large countries decide what to do with smaller ones.

On 28 June 2021, Ukraine and NATO forces launched joint naval drills in the Black Sea codenamed Sea Breeze 2021. Russia had condemned the drills, with the Russian Defence Ministry saying it would closely monitor them.

Russian guarantees of Ukraine's non-accession to NATO

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Brussels, 16 December 2021

On December 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wanted to receive guarantees from the West that Ukraine would not join NATO. On 16 December, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the Alliance would not make concessions to Russia on the issue of Ukraine's accession. According to him, Ukraine has the right to protection and together with NATO will determine the issue of membership in the Alliance.

On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry unveiled a draft agreement between Russia and the United States on "security guarantees" and a draft agreement on measures to ensure the security of Russia and NATO member states. In particular, Russia proposes that NATO renounce the admission of Georgia and Ukraine into NATO, as well as "any military activity on the territory of Ukraine." Russia also urges the United States not to establish military bases in the former Soviet Union and not to accept these countries into NATO.

On January 9, 2022, following a visit to Ukraine in January 2022 and a trip to the contact line in the east, EU High Representative Josep Borrell wrote in his blog on the European External Action Service website that some of the provisions of the so-called "draft agreements" on security guarantees for Russia, represented by the Kremlin in December 2021, contradicts the basic principles of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, so the willingness of NATO and Western countries to discuss these ideas does not mean their willingness to accept them:

The Russian leadership seems to intend to turn the clock backward to the old times of Cold War logics. This type of delimitation of spheres of influence does not belong in 2022: there cannot be a Yalta.

— Josep Borrell

In this regard, on January 10, 2022, US and Russian diplomats held security talks in Geneva to discuss the military activities of both countries and growing tensions around Ukraine. The head of the Russian delegation at a meeting in Geneva between the United States and Russia said that Russia needed "concrete guarantees" that Ukraine and Georgia would never become members of NATO, enshrined in the decision of the Madrid Summit of 2022. Earlier, Ryabkov also said that "the risks of military confrontation should not be underestimated" and that the American side, refusing to not expand NATO, underestimates the seriousness of the situation.

In turn, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO will not compromise with Russia on Ukraine's membership and that Ukraine's membership in NATO will be decided by Ukraine and its allies. He assured that the Alliance helps Ukraine to meet the criteria necessary for membership in the organization.

The Alliance continues to provide Ukraine with political support for its territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as practical assistance. It is also a clear signal that Ukraine has the right to defend itself.

— Jens Stoltenberg

US State Department spokeswoman Wendy Sherman said NATO's "open door" principle was out of the question, and Washington would not give up bilateral cooperation with sovereign states that want to cooperate with the United States. She also added that in contacts with Moscow, Washington does not intend to decide on the fate of Ukraine without the participation of Ukraine, Europe without Europe, and NATO without NATO. Separately, after a meeting with Russian officials in Geneva, Wendy said she could not say whether the Russian Federation was ready for de-escalation near Ukraine's borders, where Russia has been celebrating technology since the spring of 2021.

A NATO-Russia Council meeting will be held in Brussels on 12 January and a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on 13 January to discuss relevant issues.

Popular opinion in Ukraine

Popular support in Ukraine for NATO membership since 2000

2020–2023 Date Opinion Poll agency For Against February 2024 77% 5% International Republican Institute & Rating November 2023 77% 5% Rating September 2023 79% 5% International Republican Institute July 2023 83% 6% Rating May 2023 89% 3% Kyiv International Institute of Sociology February 2023 82% 3% International Republican Institute & Rating January 2023 86% National Democratic Institute January 2023 86% 3% Rating October 2022 83% 4% Rating July 2022 71% 7% Kyiv International Institute of Sociology June 2022 76% 10% Rating June 2022 72% 7% International Republican Institute & Rating April 2022 59% 14% International Republican Institute & Rating April 2022 68% 23% Rating March 2022 72% 12% Rating January 2022 64% 17% Ukrainian Institute of the Future December 2021 59.2% 28.1% Kyiv International Institute of Sociology August 2021 54% 35% Rating June 2021 47.8% 24.3% Kyiv International Institute of Sociology February 2020 43.5% 31.3% Kyiv International Institute of Sociology January 2020 49.8% 29.8% Razumkov Centre

2014–2019 Date Opinion Poll agency For Against June 2019 53% 29% Rating September 2018 45% 31% International Republican Institute & Rating September 2018 46.3% 31.6% Razumkov Centre March 2018 43% 33% International Republican Institute & Rating December 2017 37% 26% International Republican Institute & Rating September 2017 45% 27% Kyiv International Institute of Sociology June 2017 40% 27% International Republican Institute & Rating April 2017 46% 27% International Republican Institute & Rating December 2016 71% 23% Democratic Initiatives Foundation & Razumkov Centre September 2016 39% 31% Kyiv International Institute of Sociology June 2016 39% 32% Rating May 2016 44% 38% Kyiv International Institute of Sociology March 2016 45% 30% Rating January 2016 47% 31% Rating December 2015 75% 11% Democratic Initiatives Foundation July 2015 63.9% 28.5% Democratic Initiatives Foundation & Razumkov Centre June 2015 53% 32% Pew Research Center March 2015 43.3% 33.4% Kyiv International Institute of Sociology November 2014 51% 25% Rating October 2014 53% 34% Gorshenin Institute July 2014 44% 34% Rating June 2014 47% 36% Gorshenin Institute June 2014 41% 40% Razumkov Centre May 2014 41% 40% Democratic Initiatives Foundation & Razumkov Centre May 2014 37% 42% Razumkov Centre April 2014 36% 48% Razumkov Centre March 2014 44% 47% GfK

2000–2013 Date Opinion Poll agency For Against October 2013 20% 66% Rating December 2012 15% 60% Democratic Initiative Foundation October 2012 19% 66% Rating July 2012 17% 70% Rating April 2012 15% 62% Democratic Initiative Foundation February 2012 20% 70% Rating April 2011 25% 60% IFAK Ukraine January 2011 24% 70% Rating December 2009 21% 60% Democratic Initiative Foundation April 2009 21% 57% FOM-Ukraine June 2002 32% 32.2% Razumkov Centre November 2000 30% 40% Institute of Public Affairs, Poland

Western Ukraine has always been significantly more pro-NATO than the rest of the country.

Eastern Ukraine is far more anti-NATO and pro-Russia than the rest of Ukraine.

A Gallup poll conducted in October 2008 showed that 43% of Ukrainians associated NATO as a threat to their country, while only 15% associated it with protection. A November 2009 poll by Ukrainian Project System relieved 40.1% of Ukrainians polled said the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was the best global security group for Ukraine to be a part of and 33.9% of the respondents supported Ukraine's full membership in CSTO; more than 36% of the respondents of the poll said that Ukraine should remain neutral and only 12.5% supported Ukraine's accession to NATO. A 2009 Gallup poll showed that 40% of Ukrainian adults associate NATO with "Threat" and 17% with "Protection". According to a poll by Razumkov Center in March 2011 20.6% on average across Ukraine considered NATO a threat; this number was 51% in Crimea. A 2013 Gallup poll showed that 29% associated NATO with "Threat" and 17% with "Protection"; 44% viewed it as neither.

Following the Russian military intervention of 2014, annexation of Crimea and the start of the Donbass War, many Ukrainians changed their views of NATO: polls from the middle of 2014 until 2016 showed that the majority of Ukrainians supported NATO membership.

An electronic petition to the president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko was filed on 29 August 2015 requesting that a referendum on joining NATO be conducted. The petition achieved the required 25,000 votes to be considered. The president's reply stated that "One of the main priorities of Ukraine's foreign policy is to deepen cooperation with NATO to achieve the criteria required for membership in this organization. Today, we carry out security sector reform in Ukraine to reach NATO standards and to strengthen the country's defense system, which is necessary to counter Russian aggression. Once Ukraine fulfills all the necessary criteria to join the Alliance, final decision on this important issue will be approved by the Ukrainian people in a referendum."

In February 2017, President Poroshenko announced that a referendum would be held during his presidency, with polls showing that 54% of Ukrainians favor such a move.

On December 24, 2021, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology published a survey conducted on December 13-16 by telephone interview, according to which, in the event of a referendum on NATO membership, 59.2% of all respondents would vote "yes", 28.1% "Against," the study said. According to the authors of the study, the vast majority of people in the west and center of the country support both joining the EU and joining NATO. Support for Euro-Atlantic integration is lower in the south and east. At the same time, in the case of joining the EU, a majority in a referendum would support such a decision, and in the case of joining NATO, the votes "for" and "against" would be divided almost equally.

Russian opposition to Ukrainian NATO membership

Russia is strongly opposed to any eastward expansion of NATO. On February 12, 2008, (then) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia may target its missiles at Ukraine if its neighbour joins NATO and accepts the deployment of a US missile defence shield. Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has stated more than once his country would not allow foreign military bases on its territory; as of December 2009, NATO was not planning to deploy military bases in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reportedly declared at a NATO-Russia summit in 2008 that if Ukraine joined NATO his country could contend to annex the Ukrainian East and Crimea.

During a NATO conference in Hungarian parliament on 20 November 2008, Deputy Assistant Secretary-General Aurelia Bouchez said: "We should not make a choice between NATO enlargement and Russia as we need both" and NATO's Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a conference in Spain twelve days later: "The emergence of independent states within the former Soviet space is a reality. The ability of these states to determine their own future is a litmus test for the new Europe. Do we have to choose between good relations with Russia and further enlargement? My answer is no – we will not choose, will not sacrifice one for the other. It would bring new dividing lines."

In an interview with the BBC on 18 November 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin spokesmen Dmitry Peskov called for "a 100% guarantee that no-one would think about Ukraine joining NATO"; 2 days later Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg rejected this call stating it would be "violating the idea of respecting the sovereignty of Ukraine, which is a fundamental".

On 30 November 2021, Russian President Putin stated that an expansion of NATO's presence in Ukraine, especially the deployment of any long-range missiles capable of striking Russian cities or missile defense systems similar to those in Romania and Poland, would be a "red line" issue for Russia. Putin asked U.S. President Joe Biden for legal guarantees that NATO wouldn’t expand eastward or put "weapons systems that threaten us in close vicinity to Russian territory." According to Putin, "If some kind of strike systems appear on the territory of Ukraine, the flight time to Moscow will be seven to 10 minutes, and five minutes in the case of a hypersonic weapon being deployed." NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg replied that "It's only Ukraine and 30 NATO allies that decide when Ukraine is ready to join NATO. Russia has no veto, Russia has no say, and Russia has no right to establish a sphere of influence to try to control their neighbors."

Ukraine's foreign relations with NATO member states

Albania Belgium Bulgaria Canada

Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia

France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland

Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Montenegro Netherlands

North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia

Slovenia Spain Turkey United Kingdom United States

See also

• Enlargement of NATO
• 2006 anti-NATO protests in Feodosia
• NATO-Ukraine Civic League
• Ukraine–European Union relations
• Munich Agreement

External links

• Ukraine–NATO relations
• NATO accession support level chart (2002–2009) by Razumkov Centre