US Diplomat Carpenter: Anything Less Than NATO Article Five Is Not a Reliable Guarantee
The only real protection for Ukraine could be Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which provides for the collective defense of NATO members. American diplomat Michael Carpenter, former US Permanent Representative to the OSCE (2021-2024), told LIGA.net on the sidelines of the Kyiv Security Forum.
Carpenter emphasized that, until the moment of possible accession to NATO, Ukraine should focus on developing its own deterrence potential – from long-range missiles to air defense systems and maritime defense.
This, in his opinion, will make it more difficult for Russia to carry out aggression even after a possible ceasefire.
At the same time, the American diplomat admitted that there is currently no consensus among NATO countries on Ukraine's accession, despite declarative support from European leaders and Washington.
"They always say they support [Ukraine's NATO membership], but they support it in the future – not now," Carpenter added.
He believes that the final inclusion of Ukraine in the NATO collective security system will contribute to the stabilization of the situation in Europe and long-term peace on the continent.
In March, before the signing of the agreement, US President Trump spread the idea that the presence of American specialists in Ukraine would allegedly prevent dictator Putin from carrying out a new attack.
- In May, after the document was signed, Secretary of State Rubio stated that the resource agreement was a step towards ending the Russian-Ukrainian war . At the same time, US Treasury Secretary Bessant claimed that with this document , Trump "dealt" his Ukrainian counterpart Zelensky a royal flush that he could show to the Russian leadership.
