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Ukraine’s tough choice

Its decision to annul the country’s non-aligned status and formally apply for Nato membership puts it on a warpath with Russia. Parliament voted overwhelmingly to take the Brussels route which, in other words, means rupturing ties with Kremlin. Kiev seems to have decided in haste and that too at the cost of its existence. Though Ukraine was closer to the European Union and the nation at large was pro-West, that doesn’t mean that the transatlantic alliance membership was up for grabs.

The crisis-hit country should have studied the case of Turkey, which despite fulfilling the criterion of membership, has to this day been kept out of the European club. That is why many in Brussels believe that it will take a longer than anticipated time for Ukraine to become a full member of the Western military alliance, and till then it will have to take the flak from Russia. Last but not the least, Moscow had warned Ukraine against going the Nato way, and had even told Western leaders that expanding the Nato at its doorstep would be taken as an act of war. Thus Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, was quick to castigate Ukraine and called the move counterproductive. It is bound to boost tensions in the region, especially at a time when the West had exercised all options of dealing with Russia in the diplomatic sphere by slapping a number of sanctions.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, however, believes that it is an apt retaliation to Russian support for rebels in its eastern territory. But the point is will Russia cease that support by fearing Kiev going the Nato way? No, that is not going to happen. Rather, Moscow will bring in more armoury to its borders with Ukraine, and beef up support to the separatists. It is tantamount to more rivalry and upheavals.