Italy: Ukraine is dangerous for NATO

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said: Granting Ukraine NATO membership while the country is at war with Russia is “dangerous for everyone” and may lead to a world war.

Tajani, in his speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, reiterated that NATO is “trying for Ukraine’s membership”, but should act cautiously and instead of making hasty decisions, properly “pave the way to achieve these goals.” ”

In response to a question about Ukraine’s potential integration into the bloc, Italy’s foreign minister said: “Frankly, it’s dangerous for everyone, because you’re fighting against Russia and for Ukraine’s full membership in NATO, which means World War III.” .

“We want to support you, but the rules are very clear – if there is an attack against a NATO member, NATO is involved, and we have to be careful about that,” he explained. Cooperation between the US-led bloc and Kyiv “sends a clear message to Russia.”

NATO announced for the first time in 2008 that Ukraine will join this pact. After the Western-backed coup in Kiev in 2014, Ukraine increased its engagement with the alliance and announced NATO membership as a strategic goal in 2017. In the fall of 2022, after its four former regions overwhelmingly voted to join Russia, it officially applied to join NATO.

At last year’s NATO meeting in Vilnius, NATO foreign ministers stated that Ukraine must implement additional democratic and security reforms to join the bloc, and said that the invitation would only be extended if allies agreed and conditions met. be fulfilled.

While the issue is expected to be discussed further at next July’s meeting in Washington, D.C., Foreign Policy magazine reported last month that Washington and Berlin are opposed to the idea due to fears of a possible full-scale confrontation with Moscow. .

Russia considers the expansion of NATO towards its borders a great security threat. Russian President Vladimir Putin has argued that Western powers have used Ukraine to antagonize Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Putin called the West’s approach to Ukraine a big political mistake and pointed to NATO’s 2008 promise to admit Ukraine to the bloc, as well as the Western-backed coup in Kiev in 2014.