"Without NATO, we will collapse at some point in the next 10 years, because our neighbor is brainless and has no borders," Oleksiy Polonchuk told the German public television ARD. He is the director of the "Forpost" foundation, which supplies the Ukrainian army with vehicles and drones. Andrea Beer Polonchuk told the correspondent of ARD in Kyiv that she does not expect anything concrete from the NATO meeting in New York, but she does not see an alternative to Ukraine's membership in the Alliance. If this war drags on for another 10 or 20 years, at some point there will be no one to fight it, and NATO is the only umbrella that can be spread over the country, he believes.
"The whole eastern front is burning"
Volunteers like Oleksii Polonchuk play an extremely important role in protecting Ukraine from the Russian invasion. They support the Ukrainian army and without them it would be difficult, said Serhiy Osachuk, an officer of the Ukrainian border troops. So far, Ukraine has concluded 20 bilateral security agreements with Western countries, as well as one with the EU. And while these documents are important, they don't offer a solution. "Everything but NATO membership is an illusion. Any security guarantees that won't work. This is only a means by which the dialogue can continue," commented Osachuk. He is a historian by education and was the governor of the Chernivtsi region until mid-2022, before enlisting as a volunteer in the army. The 52-year-old is now in Donetsk, where he is coordinating the deployment of border troops with the military leadership. He regularly travels to the hot spots on the eastern front - Avdeevka, Bakhmut, Kupyansk, Chasov Yar - and knows the situation intimately. "I can say it in one short sentence: The entire eastern front is on fire," warns the man.
As long as Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine continues, it cannot become a member of NATO. This is abundantly clear to the military and political leadership of Ukraine. However, at the NATO meeting in Vilnius last year, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi called the fact that there are no concrete terms for Ukraine's invitation and membership in the military alliance unprecedented and absurd. Now he hopes for fruitful meetings in the USA. "We are working on the details of the new decisions and documents that we will sign with our partners. There must be an appropriate solution regarding air defense as well," the Ukrainian president said.
Ukrainians hope to be able to use Western weapons against Russia
In spite of everything, many Ukrainians hope that they will join NATO even before the end of the war, says Kyiv-based military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko. He expects international partners to allow the use of Western weapons on Russian territory without any restrictions.
"Finally, we need permission to attack Russian military targets, no matter how far they are from the Ukrainian border. This is very important for us in order to limit Russia's attack opportunities as much as possible," the expert explains.
Author: Andrea Beer (ARD)