The decision of NATO’s Vilnius summit not to invite Ukraine to join the alliance reflects the view of the leaders of the bigger Western countries on how the war in Ukraine may end, Estonian MP Raimond Kaljulaid (SDE), head of the Estonian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, says. Writing in an opinion piece for ERR, Kaljulaid notes that one of the main goals of the US and several other NATO countries is to prevent the war from expanding into a wider conflict.
The US wants to avoid war with Russia at all costs, Kaljulaid writes. The big Western countries do not see a Ukrainian victory as feasible and still regard some sort of an agreement with Russia as realistic. Making a firm pledge on NATO membership would have made reaching a deal more difficult if not impossible, Kaljulaid explains. Also, US President Joe Biden needs to settle the Ukraine issue before the next presidential elections in 2024, he suggests.