That is why it would be fundamentally wrong for Ukraine to join NATO quickly

Nine NATO countries from Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans are now putting pressure on Ukraine to join the military alliance. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously called for "accelerated accession". He overdid it. While it is understandable that his country wants to join a strong defensive military alliance like NATO, the timing is just as inopportune. Despite all the credit for his people's heroic struggle for survival, Zelenskyy must be careful not to overstrain the West's willingness to provide support.

It is correct when Ukraine's president repeatedly and emphatically calls for main battle tanks: they are necessary in order to launch a successful and sustainable counteroffensive in the east of the country. It is right when Zelenskyj demands more financial support from the EU, even if Brussels must not forget other crisis regions such as Tajikistan, Yemen or Sudan.

Rapid NATO accession by Ukraine would now be fundamentally wrong: Such a turbo membership would possibly still actively draw the alliance into the Ukraine war because of the alliance's obligation under Article 5. Or it would irritate Russian President Vladimir Putin to such an extent that he would become even more unpredictable, continue to escalate dramatically - probably even with biological and chemical warfare agents - and at the same time the ranks within the Russian elites behind the Kremlin would close again.

It was a serious mistake that Chancellor Merkel, together with then French President Nicolas Sarkozy, rejected the hasty NATO accession of Ukraine and Georgia in 2008. Numerous NATO countries, including the Americans, had rightly criticized this. But the Franco-German tandem was incorrigible in its policy of dialogue with Putin, who had already revealed his unscrupulousness by attacking the Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and Ossetia. But this historic mistake cannot now be ironed out by hasty NATO accession in 2022 or 2023.

The debate about NATO membership is not helping Kyiv at the moment. Accession in the next five to eight years is completely unrealistic. Instead of dividing the West on this issue, Zelenskyy should now push even harder for arms deliveries. He should finally publicly address the cowardice of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is hiding behind Washington when it comes to providing battle tanks because he doesn't want to be the first battle tank supplier. Germany in particular, which has a historic war debt to Ukraine, should lead the way.

Why? The better the weapons Ukraine receives from the West, the more successful Kiev's brave soldiers will be. It is decided on the battlefield under which conditions the peace is finally concluded at the negotiating table. Ukraine's NATO membership could be excluded forever if Moscow can decisively dictate the peace terms from a position of strength.