, Columnist
What If Ukraine Is Better Off Outside NATO and the EU?
A deal to keep Ukraine out of the alliances for the foreseeable future may well be in Ukraine’s best interest.
What does he want most, and what is he willing to give up?
Photographer: ALEXEY DRUZHININ/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
Ukraine wants to join NATO and the European Union. Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to rule it out. NATO and the EU, for their part, neither need nor want Ukraine as a member, at least for the foreseeable future.
All of this suggests, to the naïve observer, a possible way out of the current crisis: All parties can agree that Ukraine will not be joining NATO or the EU anytime soon. Yet the U.S. and its allies are refusing even to discuss the matter. Their posture is irrational and counterproductive — including from Ukraine’s point of view.