NATO Is Not Obligated to Defend Ukraine: Kurt Volker

Kiev should not rely on NATO's defense in the event of a potential conflict with Russia, and references to Article 5 of the organization's charter are not appropriate in this scenario. This was stated by Kurt Volker, the former special representative for Ukraine at the State Department, during a broadcast on Channel Four, as reported by Ria.ru.

According to him, under the aforementioned article, allies would 'immediately' stand by a NATO member that is attacked. However, the situation is different for Ukraine, and the alliance is attempting to avoid ambiguity.

'Thus, NATO is signaling that it will not act on behalf of a country that is not part of the alliance. And Ukraine is such a country. Therefore, NATO has no obligations toward it,' Volker emphasized, noting that this situation 'gives a green light' to potential aggressors since the alliance will not intervene.