Ukraine could abandon its attempt to join NATO to avoid a military confrontation with Russia and the invasion of its territory, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Vadym Prystaiko, said on Monday.
In a statement to the BBC, the ambassador indicated that his country would be “flexible” about his goal of joining the Western military alliance and stressed that Ukraine is a “responsible” country, after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin threaten an armed conflict if that were to materialize.
Ukraine is not a member of the Atlantic Alliance but has expressed interest in its participation. However, the Kremlin has always considered a threat to its security the continued NATO’s approach to its borders and is not willing to accept under any circumstances the entry into the Atlantic Alliance of his former republic.
The danger of an “imminent” invasion, according to the United States, could be a reason for Kyiv to change its position on its participation in NATO: “We could (not join), especially as we are threatened like this, bribed like this,” Prystaiko explained.
For the Kremlin, this hypothetical rejection by Ukraine of the idea of joining NATO “would be a step that would significantly contribute to formulating a more substantial response to Russian concerns”, assured the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, in his daily press conference.
The Kremlin spokesman noted that Kyiv has asked the ambassador to clarify his words, so “it is unlikely that this (statement) can be considered as a fait accompli.”
For its part, the Ukrainian Presidency has already recalled after the ambassador’s controversial statements that the Euro-Atlantic path for Ukraine to become a member of NATO is enshrined in the country’s Constitution and is an “unconditional” priority.
Hybrid War Spiral
Several countries, including Spain, Morocco, Japan, Israel, the US, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Italy, have asked their citizens to leave the country after last Friday, the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, pointed out that the Russian “invasion” of Ukraine “can begin at any time.” British airlines, such as British Airways, are not currently chartering any flights to Ukraine.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine continue to intensify in recent days, and even though Moscow continues to deny its intention to invade Ukraine, it continues to increase its military presence on the border of Ukrainian
For its part, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has called for “calm” in the face of this increase in pressure and has described the situation that the country is going through as a “new spiral of hybrid warfare” waged against the territory.
“We must all remain calm and cool-headed, not succumb to provocations. Panic and destabilization benefit only the enemies, not Ukraine. We all need to think critically and verify any information; be guided by data from official sources, not anonymous; learn to distinguish truth from fakes,” Ukrainian Intelligence urged in a statement.
Sabotage, manipulation, bots, and terrorism
According to the SBU, Ukraine is facing various attempts these days to sow panic, spread false information, and distort the real situation. “All this together is nothing more than another powerful wave of hybrid warfare,” he warned, according to the Sputnik news agency.
Thus, the organization has indicated that it is facing a hybrid war that is spreading through social networks and media as well as through the speeches of politicians who “spread the narratives of the aggressor country.”
“It not only corrects them but also actively opposes them. This is reflected in the decisions of the National Security and Defense Council, the number of cyberattacks neutralized, the elimination of numerous bot farms, the exposure of Intelligence networks of foreign services, and prevention of sabotage and terrorist attacks” picks up the text.