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The Ukraine and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) relations started in 1995. Ukraine is as of January 2008 a candidate to join the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP).[1][2] On December 3, 2008 NATO decided it will work out an Annual National Programme of providing assistance to Ukraine to implement reforms required to accede the alliance without referring to MAP.[3] Plans for Ukrainian membership to NATO were shelved by Ukraine following the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election in which Viktor Yanukovych was elected President.[4] President Yanukovych opted to keep Ukraine a non-aligned state.[5] This materialized on June 3, 2010 when the Ukrainian parliament excluded, with 226 votes, the goal of "integration into Euro-Atlantic security and NATO membership" from the country's national security strategy.[6] "European integration" is still part of Ukraine's national security strategy and co-operation with NATO was not excluded.[6] Ukraine considers its relations with NATO as a partnership.[7][8]
According to numerous independent polls conducted over the past few years,[9][10][11][12][13][14] Ukrainian public opinion on NATO membership is low, with the majority against joining the military alliance and about 40% associating NATO as a threat.[15]
Russia's reactions to the 2008 plan of the (then) Ukrainian Government to join MAP were hostile. A NATO spokesman said that despite Russian reactions towards NATO's eastward expansion the alliance's door remained open to those who met the criteria.[16]
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Relations officially began when Ukraine became the first CIS country to enter NATO's Partnership for Peace program in February 1995.[17] In the summer of 1995 NATO stepped up to help to mitigate consequences of the Kharkiv Drinking Water Disaster. This was the first cooperation between NATO and Ukraine.[18] On May 7, 1997 the first-ever official NATO Information and Documentation Center opened in Kiev, aimed to foster transparency about the alliance.[19] A Ukrainian public opinion poll of May 6 showed 37% in favor of joining NATO with 28% opposed and 34% undecided.[20] On July 9, 1997, a NATO-Ukraine Commission was established.[21] In 2002 relations with the governments of the United States and other NATO countries deteriorated after one of the recordings made during the Cassette Scandal revealed an alleged transfer of a sophisticated Ukrainian defense system to Saddam Hussein's Iraq.[17] At the NATO enlargement summit in November 2002, the NATO–Ukraine commission adopted a Ukraine–NATO Action Plan. President Kuchma's declaration that Ukraine wanted to join NATO (also in 2002) and the sending of Ukrainian troops to Iraq in 2003[17] could not mend relations between Kuchma and NATO.[17] Currently, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are working with NATO in Iraq.[22]
After the Orange Revolution in 2004 Kuchma was replaced by President Viktor Yushchenko who is a keen supporter of Ukraine's NATO membership.[23] In January 2008 the second Yulia Tymoshenko cabinet's proposal for Ukraine to join NATO's Membership Action Plan was met with opposition. A petition of over 2 million signatures has called for a referendum on Ukraine's membership proposal to join NATO. The opposition have called for a national referendum to be held on any steps towards further involvement with NATO. In February 2008 57.8% of Ukrainians supported the idea of a national referendum on joining NATO, against 38.6% in February 2007.[24]
On January 16, 2008 United States Senator Richard Lugar announced: "Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Parliamentary Chairman Arseniy Yatsenyuk have signed the statement calling for consideration on Ukraine's entry into the NATO membership action plan at the Bucharest summit."[25]
The Ukrainian parliament headed by chairman Arseniy Yatsenyuk was unable to hold its regular parliamentary session following the decision of the Parliamentary Opposition to prevent the parliament from functioning in a protest against joining NATO. The parliament was blocked from January 25, 2008 [26] till March 4, 2008 (at 29 February 2008 factions leaders agreed on a protocol of mutual understanding).[27] US President George W. Bush and both nominees for President of the United States in the 2008 election, U.S. senator Barack Obama and U.S. senator John McCain, did offer backing to Ukraine's membership of NATO.[28][29][30] Russian reactions were negative.
At the NATO summit 2008 (3 April 2008) NATO decided it will not yet offer membership to Georgia or Ukraine.[31] Resistance was reportedly met from France and Germany.[32]
In November 2008 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime-Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Ukrainian minister of defence Anatolii Hrytsenko doubted Ukraine would be granted membership of MAP in December 2008.[33] In a Times of London interview in late November, President Yushchenko stated : "Ukraine has done everything it had to do. We are devoted to this pace. Everything else is an issue of political will of those allies who represent NATO."[34] Although NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary-General Aurelia Bouchez [35] and NATO's Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer[36] still supported Ukraine's NATO bid at the time the Bush administration seemed not to push for Georgian and Ukrainian membership of MAP late November 2008.[37] President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev responded that "reason has prevailed".[38]
On December 3, 2008 NATO decided it will work out an Annual National Programme of providing assistance to Ukraine to implement reforms required to accede the alliance without referring to MAP.[3] Foreign Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Ohryzko intrepertated this as a de facto obtaining of the NATO Membership Action Plan.[39] On February 18, 2009 the Ukrainian Parliament approved by 239 votes (only 226 votes were required for their approval) the creation of a NATO information and documentation center in Ukraine and the appointment of NATO communications officers in Ukraine.[40]
Several NATO member states have provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine during the 2009 flu pandemic in Ukraine in response to a appeal by the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre.[41]
NATO-Ukraine consultations at the level of Defense Ministers took place at NATO headquarters in Brussels on November 16, 2009.[42][43]
Candidate during the 2010 presidential election and Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych stated during 2010 presidential election-campaign that the current level of Ukraine's cooperation with NATO was sufficient and that the question of the country's accession to the alliance was therefore not urgent.[44][45]
Following the election, newly elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych stated on February 14, 2010 that Ukraine's relations with NATO were currently "well-defined", and that there was "no question of Ukraine joining NATO". He said the issue of Ukrainian membership of NATO might "emerge at some point, but we will not see it in the immediate future."[5]
On March 1, 2010 during his visit to Brussels, Yanukovych stated that there would be no change to Ukraine's status as a member of the alliance's outreach program.[46] He later reiterated during a trip to Moscow that Ukraine would remain a "European, non-aligned state."[47]
(As of May 2010) NATO and Ukraine continue to cooperate in the frame of the Annual National Program,[48] including joint exercises.[49] According to Ukraine the continuation of Ukraine-NATO cooperation does not exclude the development of a strategic partnership with Russia.[50]
On May 27, 2010 Yanukovych stated he Ukraine considered Ukraine's relations with NATO as a partnership, "And Ukraine can't live without this [partnership], because Ukraine is a large country".[7]
On June 3, 2010 the Ukrainian parliament excluded, with 226 votes, the goal of "integration into Euro-Atlantic security and NATO membership" from the country's national security strategy in a bill drafted by President Yanukovych himself.[6] The bill forbids Ukraine's membership of any military bloc, but allows for co-operation with alliances such as NATO.[51] "European integration" is still part of Ukraine's national security strategy.[6]
On June 24, 2010 the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers approved an action plan to implement an annual national program of cooperation with NATO in 2010.[52] This included[52]:
| Polls | For | Against | Total loss/gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 Razumkov Centre[54] | 32% | 32.2% | - |
| 2004 University of Sussex[55] | 30% | 40% | 2% |
| April 2009 FOM-Ukraine[56][53] | 21% | 57% | 9% |
| November 2009 Ukrainian Project System[57] | 12.5% | - | 8.5% |
| December 2009 Democratic Initiative Foundation[58] | 21% | 60% | 8.5% |
A Gallup poll conducted in October 2008 showed that 45% of Ukrainians associated NATO as a threat to their country, while only 15% associated it with protection.[59] The November 2009 poll by Ukrainian Project System relieved 40.1% of Ukrainians polled said the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was the best global security group for Ukraine to be apart of and 33.9% of the respondents supported Ukraine's full membership in CSTO; more than 36% of the respondents of the poll said that Ukraine should remain neutral and only 12.5% supported Ukraine's accession to NATO.[57] A 2009 Gallup poll showed that 40% of Ukrainian adults associate NATO with "Threat" and 17% with "Protection".[15] According to a poll by Razumkov Center in March 2011 20.6% on average across Ukraine considered NATO a threat; this number was 51% in Crimea.[60]
Western Ukraine is significantly more pro-Nato than the rest of the country.[61]
Neighbouring Russia is strongly opposed to any eastward expansion of NATO.[62][63] On February 12, 2008 (then) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia may target its missiles at Ukraine if its neighbour joins NATO and accepts the deployment of a US missile defence shield.[64] Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has stated more than once his country would not allow foreign military bases on its territory;[65][66] as of December 2009 NATO is not planning to deploy military bases in Ukraine.[67]
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin allegedly declared at a NATO-Russia summit in 2008 that if Ukraine joined NATO his country could contend to annex the Ukrainian East and Crimea.[68]
During a NATO conference in Hungarian parliament on 20 November 2008 Deputy Assistant Secretary-General Aurelia Bouchez said: "We should not make a choice between NATO enlargement and Russia as we need both"[69] and NATO's Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a conference in Spain twelve days later: "The emergence of independent states within the former Soviet space is a reality. The ability of these states to determine their own future is a litmus test for the new Europe. Do we have to choose between good relations with Russia and further enlargement? My answer is no - we will not choose, will not sacrifice one for the other. It would bring new dividing lines."[70]
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