NATO is celebrating 75 years since its founding and its allies have gathered in Washington for the anniversary event. The question of Ukraine and its accession to the Alliance is one of the top topics on the agenda of the Synod. The extra economic and military support to the country due to the war with Russia is certainly a step forward in terms of the idea of ​​Ukraine’s integration into NATO, however, the “thorns” for its accession remain with the US and Germany in particular projecting strong resistance as reported by diplomatic sources to the German Agency.

According to the State Department, NATO will make it absolutely clear that Ukraine’s future is within the alliance, however, no further progress is expected in the discussions during the Summit, extinguishing any hope of Kiev for something more.

Last week, Politico published an open letter signed by 60 foreign policy professionals intended to serve as a warning to the alliance that any further move toward Ukraine’s inclusion in the bloc would be unwise for the sake of transatlantic security. But the question is why are some countries still resisting and why are there second thoughts about its immediate accession?

According to an opinion piece by Suzanne Loftus at wilsoncenter.org, one of the arguments that analysts against Ukraine’s integration into NATO tend to have is that keeping Ukraine out of the alliance could be used as a possible trump card in a peace negotiation with Russia due to her security concerns. But while the deterioration of Western-Russian relations may have been influenced by questions about the European security architecture and the place of Ukraine and Georgia within it, now that Russia has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine for more than two years, the issue of security now comes second. The war is now being waged purely for the acquisition of new territory by Russia, which has made it clear through its actions and rhetoric that it does not see an independent Ukraine as a viable option.

The war has accelerated the urgent need for Ukraine to fully integrate into Western security and economic institutions. The idea of ​​Ukraine remaining independent is long dead with 86% of the Ukrainian population now supporting NATO membership.

Even so, this hypothesis that its joining NATO could be a “key” to peace in the region, may be overestimated since in order to have a peace agreement, it is assumed that there is something to be negotiated. It would be naïve to assume that Russia will trade the territories it has conquered for a deal related to NATO enlargement and Ukraine’s accession. Moreover, Russia has closed the door on Europe once and for all. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed with Russian foreign affairs expert Dmitry Trenin’s assessment that Russia is “done with Europe for at least a generation.”

Another argument of the analysts regarding why countries are delaying the country’s accession to the Alliance is that it would be unwise for the US to engage and possibly end up in a direct confrontation with Russia, if Ukraine eventually joins NATO. NATO is currently actively supporting Ukraine’s defense against Russia and should do so for a long time. This creates resistance. When the war finally ends with Ukraine ideally victorious then it can then join NATO with whatever territories it has managed to retain while refusing to recognize the remaining occupied territories as Russian. If the Russian military eventually loses then it will probably be several years before the Russian military starts another war. Historically, Russia has never invaded a NATO member and wants to avoid this potential confrontation as much as the West. This strategy will ultimately create the best possible deterrent for future attacks.

So what matters at the moment is for NATO to prioritize protecting the Western way of life and defending its security against a power that does not wish to bridge its relations with the West in order to win Ukraine and integrate it. finally to the alliance when it’s all over.