Gritsenko: if everything depended only on the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukraine would have been in NATO long ago
Ukraine would have long ago become a member of NATO if everything depended only on the state of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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Former Defense Minister Anatoly Gritsenko stated this on the NewsOne television channel, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to him, what prevents Ukraine from becoming a member of the Alliance is the Russian position, as well as corruption, low living standards and the lack of fair justice in the country.
“If readiness to join was assessed according to the parameters of the army, we would have been there a long time ago. The Ukrainian army is perceived with respect, regardless of what kind of relationship they had with the presidents... But in order to join NATO, you need to pass exams. These exams are mainly on civil issues - 80% are civil questions. These are questions about whether we have fair justice, whether we have normal elections, whether we have transparent public finances, whether we have a serious fight against corruption, and so on. All these things are civilian. This is where we are seriously behind... All those offshore companies, corruption, oligarchy and so on - this is pulling us back. Conclusion - we will not join NATO in the near future, no matter what Poltorak or Poroshenko says. For political reasons, you named one of them – Russia. Because when “Minsk” was signed, this was not recorded, but the President of France, who was flying to a meeting in Minsk, he directly said: “Ukraine will not be accepted into NATO.” And he added: “I am sending this signal in order to relieve Russian concerns,” Gritsenko said.
English version :: Read in English Gritsenko: If everything depended only on the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukraine would have long since joined NATO.