Jasno je, seveda, da Ukrajina ne more v Nato, dokler je država v vojni, saj bi to zahtevalo aktivacijo člena 5 sporazuma Nato (“if a NATO Ally is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the Alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members and will take the actions it deems necessary to assist the Ally attacked“). Zato bodo članice Nata tudi na predstoječem vrhu Nata 9. julija v Washingtonu morale biti inovativne v argumentaciji, zakaj Ukrajina “še ni zrela za Nato”. No, tokrat je magična beseda: Korupcija. Pač rekli bodo, da je Ukrajina doslej naredila veliko reform, vendar mora poštimati še korupcijo.

Korupcija je v Ukrajini “name of the game” vse od njene neodvisnosti in ob Srbiji in Bosni in Hercegovini (in Rusiji) naj bi bila Ukrajina najbolj koruptivna evropska država. Vendar pa korupcija v Ukrajini nikogar ne moti, ko ji dovažajo orožje ali odobravajo finančno pomoč (doslej za več kot 380 milijard dolarjev, od tega 118 milijard dolarjev za orožje) in čeprav v Washingtonu, kot priznavajo, nimajo evidence, koliko tega orožja in finančne pomoči ponikne. Toda morali so najti nek formalni razlog, da Ukrajini ne odprejo vrat. Lahko si mislimo, kateri razlog bodo našli naslednje leto.

Ukraine will be told it is currently too corrupt to join Nato, in a major blow to Volodymyr Zelensky.

The alliance will request “additional steps” from Kyiv before membership talks progress, a senior official in the US State Department said.

The position will be set out in writing in the Nato communique to be signed at the alliance’s annual summit on July 9.

“We have to step back and applaud everything that Ukraine has done in the name of reforms over the last two-plus years,” the official told The Telegraph.

“As they continue to make those reforms, we want to commend them, we want to talk about additional steps that need to be taken, particularly in the area of anti-corruption. It is a priority for many of us around the table,” the source added.

Mr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, is pushing for swift Nato membership after the war ends to protect from future invasion. It would compel the US and Europe to come to the defence of Kyiv in the event of any Russian attack.

But corruption has been a sticking point in recent talks between Nato member states over whether to offer Ukraine a concrete timetable for joining the Western military alliance.

The Telegraph recently revealed that the US is blocking British and European efforts to put in writing an “irreversible” path towards Nato membership for Ukraine.

Ukraine has suffered from corruption, particularly in its armed forces, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Mr Zelensky has sacked military chiefs as part of an effort to curb the problem, especially in the area of defence procurement.

Joe Biden raised “significant corruption” in an interview with Time magazine this year, during which he ruled out supporting the “Nato-isation of Ukraine”.

Nato diplomats and officials have given Ukraine a list of reforms it will be expected to carry out before its membership ambitions can be realised, a US defence official said.

“That’s something Nato has been doing quietly under the radar that helps them get closer to membership,” the source added.

Mr Zelensky, who is attending the summit in Washington, is likely to be offered a promise of a “well-lit bridge” to Nato membership, a term preferred by the US.

Nato allies still disagree over whether they should upgrade the statement they made last year at their summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, to make their offer to Kyiv “irreversible”.

At this year’s meeting, allies are expected to offer further air defence systems to meet Ukraine’s growing needs, including US Patriots, after Washington agreed to prioritise deliveries of its flagship system to Kyiv.

Despite the lack of Nato promises, almost 20 countries have signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine. They will come together to celebrate those new pacts in a joint statement at the Nato summit

The summit is likely to be the first major international event for Sir Keir Starmer if he is elected as prime minister.

Writing in The Telegraph on Wednesday, Lord Cameron urged Labour to commit to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence.

Vir: The Telegraph