Ukraine–NATO relations
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Relations between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) started in 1991 following Ukraine's independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.[1] Ukraine first joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program in 1994, later joining the Planning and Review Process in 1997 and the NATO-Ukraine Commission in 1998. Although Ukraine initially declared neutrality and non-alignment with military blocs after independence,[2] it later signaled interest in eventual NATO membership. After Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for separatist forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014, Ukraine began actively pursuing NATO membership, formally declaring it a strategic policy objective in 2017.[3]
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However, NATO membership prospects remain uncertain due to ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine and concerns over meeting membership criteria. While public support for NATO membership has risen in Ukraine since 2014, the prospect continues to face opposition from Russia, which sees Ukraine's potential NATO accession as a security threat.
A 2017 poll found that some 69% of Ukrainians wanted to join NATO, compared to 28% in 2012 when Yanukovych was in power.[4] In February 2019, the Ukrainian parliament voted to amend the Constitution of Ukraine to state Ukraine's goal of NATO and European Union membership.[5][6] At the June 2021 Brussels summit, NATO leaders reiterated the decision taken at the 2008 Bucharest summit that Ukraine would eventually become a NATO member with the MAP as an integral part of the process, and Ukraine's right to determine its future and foreign policy without outside interference.[7] NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also stressed that Russia will not be able to veto Ukraine's accession to NATO "as we will not return to the era of spheres of interest, when large countries decide what smaller ones should do."[8] Before further actions on NATO membership were taken, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Polls conducted between 2005 and 2013 found low support among Ukrainians for NATO membership.[9][10][11][12][13][14] However, since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014, Ukrainian public support for NATO membership has risen greatly. Since June 2014, polls showed that about 50% of those asked supported Ukrainian NATO membership.[15][16][17][18]
On 30 September 2022, Ukraine formally applied to join NATO, following Russia's annexation of Southern and Eastern Ukraine.[19][20]