Putin’s actions proved that after February 24, 2022, there can be no countries in Europe traditionally called neutral or buffer states. Ukraine has a long border with the EU/NATO and with Russia, which launched a war of aggression. The Kremlin doesn’t want peace or compromise: all it needs is a tactical pause to regain strength for the next war, — FAR informs. Ukraine has been resisting Russia for 16 months, defending its sovereignty. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have become the most experienced army in Europe, capable of protecting NATO’s eastern flanks. But without real security guarantees to Ukraine, Putin will fight for years, regardless of losses. He considers the war with the West as a kind of revenge and an attempt to renew the historical greatness of Russia, i.e., the occupation and enslavement of other countries. That’s why, Europe has faced the greatest threat in recent decades. The NATO Summit in Vilnius should provide with legal security guarantees for Ukraine, which will prevent the spread of Russian aggression on the territory of Europe.
Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni during her official visit to Poland spoke in favor of providing security guarantees to Ukraine. Thus, Italy has become another country of the Alliance that sees the need for concrete steps to protect Ukraine from Russia. On the eve of the NATO Summit in Vilnius, it is not an occasional statement. Now, NATO has a chance to correct the tragic mistake made in 2008 during the NATO Summit in Bucharest. At that time, the West did not want to provoke Russia, hoping that the Kremlin would properly appreciate this non-verbal Europe’s gesture, which would contribute to lasting peace in Europe. In fact, such a decision played a bad joke with the West. Not granting the MAP to Georgia and Ukraine became a kind of déjà vu of the Munich Conference of 1938, which became the reason for Hitler’s further territorial conquests. In 2008, a few months after the NATO Summit in Bucharest, Putin launched a full-scale war against Georgia, annexing Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and in 2014, Russian troops occupied the Ukrainian Crimea. A full-scale war in the center of Europe, as a result of which 18 % of the territory of Ukraine is under occupation, would not have happened if Kyiv had received an invitation to NATO and became its member.
Despite the significant weakening of the Russian army, there is no need to say that Putin is ready to make a real compromise and end the war. The war can last for years — regardless of Russia’s losses. The Kremlin has created the greatest number of challenges and threats for Europe in the modern history. The renewal of Russian wars of aggression will inevitably lead to the Third World War. The only way to prevent it is to accept Ukraine into NATO. The West already has a full-scale war in the center of Europe, which is so far localized in the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine. If the West does not begin to respond appropriately to the Russian threat, Russia’s troops on the streets of European cities will become a reality.