NATO's indecisiveness allowed Russia to attack Georgia and Ukraine – Prystaiko

04.12.2019 09:35

Ukrinform

NATO leaders made a great mistake at the Bucharest Summit in 2008 by postponing the possibility of Ukraine and Georgia joining the Alliance, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko has said.

He said this at the "NATO Engages. Innovating the Alliance" conference in London on Tuesday, December 3, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"What happened in Bucharest [ten years ago], I believe, is a great mistake. First, we were promised to be a member of NATO, then there was an idea that a Membership Action Plan for Ukraine and Georgia is resolved. It's been more than ten years, and we are not invited either to the MAP or membership. So I believe the indecisiveness of NATO at that time and since then allowed Russia first to invade Georgia and then come to Ukraine in six years," Prystaiko said.

A declaration recognizing Ukraine's right to join NATO was adopted at the NATO Summit in Bucharest in April 2008, but no Membership Action Plan (MAP) was provided at that time.