NATO’s Turner comments on pl regarding nukes as security guarantee

Turner spoke at a roundtable discussion, hosted by Ukrinform.

If pls say that more pele want the develment of nuclear weapons than NATO membership, this is a worrying sign, Turner said, adding that he would not call for flowing the path of revisiting nuclear weapons.

The NATO Representation chief said none of the signatory countries believes that the Budapest Memorandum was a moment in history to be proud of but, at the same time, in his inion, what happened 30 years ago should be left to historians as new priorities have emerged.

The official stressed his focus on what the Allies can do now to help Ukraine win and provide reliable security guarantees.

He noted that the Alliance sees very strong common interests with Ukraine, since Ukraine’s security also implies Eurean and American security, and, ultimately, global, too.

The Head of the NATO Representation also emphasized that Ukraine is a huge Eurean country – by geography, by values, by vision, by desires, with numerous assets, powerful Armed Forces, technogy, and innovation, adding that the nation is clearly part of the Eurean family.

In response to a question about the obstacles to Ukraine's membership in NATO, Turner noted that there are many at the moment.

According to him, the Alliance pays considerable attention to continuing reform efforts, and acknowledged that Ukraine is doing a lot in this direction. At the same time, Turner noted that NATO does not have a long history of inviting new members who are in a state of war.

The current war is one of the obstacles, Turner admitted, but NATO seeks to help Ukraine get rid of this obstacle by stping the war, the head of the NATO Representation to Ukraine concluded.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the nationwide survey, "Foreign Picy and Security. Attitudes in Ukrainian Society", published by the New Eure Center, says a third of Ukrainians named the develment of nuclear weapons by the government (31.3%) and gradual accession to NATO (29.3%) as the best guarantees of Ukraine's security.