In addition to assistance to Ukraine, the outside world is quite concerned about a question is, when can Ukraine join NATO?
Changanjie notes that 14 years ago, also in Bucharest, NATO promised Ukraine and Georgia that they could one day become NATO members, but did not put forward a specific timetable, and NATO has not pushed forward on that promise since then.
This time at the NATO foreign ministers' meeting, Stoltenberg reiterated that promise, "This war-torn country will one day become a member of NATO. The door to NATO is open."
But the effectiveness of that promise has been questioned. Reuters noted that while the meeting of NATO foreign ministers will discuss Ukraine's application to join NATO, it is likely to be merely a confirmation of NATO's open-door policy, and the prospect of Ukraine joining the alliance remains remote.
Bloomberg bluntly stated that the meeting will discuss topics such as providing more air defense systems to Ukraine, but there will be no meaningful progress on Ukraine's request to join NATO. A source, who asked not to be named, described how the foreign ministers will make it clear that NATO's door is still open, but that "now is not the time for Ukraine to join."
Another senior European diplomat said some NATO members had advocated offering Kiev "a more direct route to alliance membership," but there was no ****ing understanding on the issue.
Just a few days ago, when asked if NATO members could agree on a more concrete "roadmap for Ukraine's accession," Stoltenberg said vaguely, "The way to help Ukraine join NATO is to work with them, both in terms of political partnership and practical support. ."
It is well known that NATO adheres to the principle of collective defense. According to NATO's Article V, the collective defense clause, an attack against one NATO member country will be considered an attack against all NATO members.
Reports indicate that some NATO members are concerned that once Ukraine joins NATO, the alliance will be dragged into a direct confrontation with Russia.
In fact, the U.S. and NATO have been trying to avoid spreading the flames of war to the west of Ukraine and preventing a direct conflict between NATO and Russia.
Taking the recent Polish missile attack as an example, the U.S. and NATO were cautious about Poland's first claim that the missiles that fell into its territory came from Russia, and ultimately came to the conclusion that the missile incident could have been triggered by Ukrainian air defenses, which cooled down the incident.
Despite the fact that Ukraine's membership in NATO is still a long way off, at this meeting of NATO foreign ministers, there was an agreement to help Ukraine repair its infrastructure.
According to Reuters, the NATO foreign ministers focused on two aspects of assistance: military assistance, including air defense systems and ammunition, and "non-lethal assistance," including fuel, medical supplies, winter supplies, and drone jammers.
Currently, Ukraine's power and heating infrastructure has been hit hard, and the Ukrainian people will have a difficult winter.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement that it would provide $53 million in funding for "the procurement of critical grid equipment" that would be quickly shipped to Ukraine in case of an emergency to help Ukrainians survive the winter.
And in terms of military assistance, it was recently reported that many NATO countries are "at the bottom of their stockpiles" of weapons.
The New York Times 26 quoted Western officials as saying, "A day in Ukraine is a month or more in Afghanistan."
The report noted that, to date, NATO countries have ****counted on providing Ukraine with about $40 billion worth of weaponry, which is roughly equivalent to France's annual defense budget.
The report also said that the Ukrainian army is using a staggering amount of artillery, and that some smaller NATO members have exhausted the equipment they can provide, with 20 of NATO's 30 members already stretched to the limit.
Russia-U.S. relations are already in deep crisis, although the U.S. is trying hard to avoid a direct conflict with Russia.
On Nov. 29 local time, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov said Russia and the United States failed to reach agreement on launching negotiations on the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on the same day that Russia would propose a new date for the New START negotiations, but it would certainly not be held earlier than the end of the year.
On the same day, Ryabkov also warned that more U.S. involvement in the Ukrainian conflict would only bring greater risks.
Extended reading:
Media: Russia-Ukraine conflict seems to have reached a 'dead end'
The situation in Russia and Ukraine is now stalemated.
The Russian Defense Ministry informed that the Russian army continues its offensive against the Ukrainian army in the direction of Donetsk.
Russian aviation and rocket artillery units struck Ukrainian command posts, artillery positions and personnel and equipment concentration areas in Kharkov, Donetsk and Kherson regions, among other targets.
Russian air defense weapons performed well, successfully intercepting two Hurricane rockets fired by the Ukrainian side. A number of UAVs were shot down in Luhansk and Donetsk regions
The Ukrainian side said it struck UAF ammunition depots and carried out nine strikes on areas where Russian personnel and equipment were concentrated, as well as on Russian anti-aircraft missile positions.
With winter approaching, the course of the Russian-Ukrainian war has sparked public debate. For his part, Zelensky warned that the Russians were planning a new round of attacks and that the coming week would be just as grim as the past one.
With Russia's onslaught on Ukraine's infrastructure, power and water cuts have been reported in several Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kiev.
The foreign ministers of seven Nordic countries - Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden - and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania*** recently visited Ukraine, where they will provide generators, warm clothes and food.
From the current situation, the conflict seems to have reached a "dead end", with neither side able to gain a clear advantage.
But now, the Russians and Ukrainians are sure to carry on with the war, and both sides are pulling the strings, depending on who has more chips.
Some sources revealed that the United States is considering directly to Ukraine to provide "Patriot" missile systems.
The Russian side immediately made a statement. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov said that the risk of serious consequences of further U.S. interference in the Russia-Ukraine conflict is increasing. Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's National Security Council, said that if NATO provides Ukraine with Patriot missile systems and staff, they will immediately become legitimate targets of the Russian armed forces.
However, Biden is in an awkward position as the US*** and party win the House of Representatives.
Analysts say the *** and Party will have veto power over the Biden administration's political agenda for the next two years, which will tie Biden's hands. But at the same time, they will have to find issues to vote in favor of to keep the government going.
Then there is also a question mark over whether the US can sustain military aid to Ukraine. If the U.S. slows down its military support for Ukraine, its followers will be able to take advantage of the situation.
Slovakia, for example. Slovakian Defense Minister Jaroslav Nagy recently said on social media that Slovakia has supplied Ukraine with a new batch***30 BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles.
Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Slovakia has continued to military aid to Ukraine, sending a lot of ammunition and equipment for Ukraine, including S-300 air defense missile systems, helicopters, etc., in addition to 16 self-propelled howitzers to be produced in Slovakia, which is partly financed by Germany, Denmark and Norway **** with the same commitment, this batch of self-propelled howitzers will be gradually delivered to Ukraine from 2023 onwards.
Earlier this year, Slovakia's parliament and president formally approved a military cooperation agreement the country signed with the United States. Under the agreement, the US military will have access to two air bases in the country and will fund their modernization.
It has to be said that Slovak politicians who say they support Ukraine are merely using it as a tool - a tool to express loyalty to the U.S. As for what will happen to Ukraine, people don't care, and if the U.S. slows down the pace of aid to the Ukraine, Slovakia is bound to follow, and Western countries such as those similar to Slovakia are not yet a The first is that the United States is not a country that has a lot of money in its pocket.
And this probably reflects the mentality of NATO and the European Union. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently publicly committed to Ukraine's future NATO membership, and has also discussed aid for the country.
But while the gesture of taking a stand can be taken by anyone, the lack of action at a critical moment is ironic.