Speaking to TVP World on Friday, Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, said Kyiv’s path toward NATO membership remains non-negotiable. “Ukrainian membership in NATO is a key goal of our foreign policy,” Bodnar insisted. “It is in our constitution, and no one can push us off this path. Another story is when it will happen. Now we are in discussions with all our partners, and it depends on both Ukraine and NATO partners to decide whether and how Ukraine will become a NATO member.” Sharp U-turn A National Security Strategy document published by the U.S. on Thursday night breaks sharply with decades of bipartisan American support for NATO’s Article 10 “open-door” policy on membership. Outlining a stance that will please Moscow but alarm Kyiv, the document says that American policy towards Europe should prioritize “ending the perception, and preventing the reality, of NATO as a perpetually expanding alliance.” Bodnar dismissed any notion that Russia should influence Ukraine’s trajectory. “Neither Vladimir Putin nor Russia has anything to do with NATO membership for Ukraine,” he told TVP World. He added: “We need a strong signal that Ukraine will be, as it was in the Bucharest summit, a future NATO member, and it should be proved by practical deeds.” The Bucharest summit in 2008 affirmed that Ukraine and Georgia would eventually join NATO, but offered no timeline.
