The political scientist stated about NATO's perception of Ukraine as a tool to deter Russia
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- The political scientist stated about NATO's perception of Ukraine as a tool to deter Russia


Ukraine is not a full-fledged NATO ally and is seen only as a tool to deter Russia. This was stated by political analyst Alexander Asafov in an interview with Izvestia on June 26, commenting on reports that the alliance summit was unsuccessful for Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.
"Ukraine is neither an ally nor anyone else for NATO, but only an instrument to contain Russia. Ukraine is not considered here as a subject, but only as an object," he stressed.
Asafov also noted that Zelensky can be proud of the fact that he managed to hold meaningful talks with US President Donald Trump at the NATO summit. However, in his opinion, the consequences of these meetings remain uncertain.
"Trump said out loud that he likes that Europe is taking on more responsibility, becoming independent, that is, showing that he is not interested in the Ukrainian conflict and does not need the costs of supporting it. And here it is quite difficult to imagine exactly how Europe is going to independently carry this suitcase without a handle as a support for the Kiev regime," the political scientist said.
He stressed that Europe would face difficulties in trying to support Ukraine on its own. Asafov believes that the funds that the EU countries plan to allocate for defense and NATO can be redirected to domestic needs, such as infrastructure development.
"I think there will be support for the Kiev regime, but, first of all, it will be on credit for money. Secondly, it will be significantly less, they will not be able to compete with the volume that was provided under [former US President Joe] Biden," the expert said.
On June 25, the Bild newspaper reported that the NATO summit in The Hague was unsuccessful for Zelensky, he turned out to be only an observer at it. In addition, the final statement completely omits the words that the country is "irreversibly standing" on its way to NATO — it contains only a vague phrase that "the allies confirm their long-term national commitments to support Ukraine."
The meeting between Trump and Zelensky lasted 40 minutes. It is noted that it was held in a closed format, without the participation of media representatives and broadcasting. After the meeting, the American leader said that he had not discussed the possibility of a ceasefire with Zelensky, and added that the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict had proved difficult.
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