What is NATO ?  

NATO is an organization that aims to “guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means”. Its members include 30 nations such as the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey.

Its purpose, as mentioned on its website, can be divided into two parts – political and military. Under its political purposes, NATO enables members to consult and cooperate on defenseman security-related issues to “solve problems, build trust and prevent conflict”.

Under military, it says it is “committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes”. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations, it states.

If a NATO member country is invaded then it will be seen as an invasion of all member countries and henceforth, action will be taken against it.

Why does Ukraine want to be a part of NATO ? 

Ukraine can be broadly divided into eastern and western parts, with the former being closer to Russia and the latter aligned to the European Union. 

Russia-supported rebels dominate vast regions of the eastern Ukraine territories. More recently, Russia recognized Donetsk and Luhansk regions as separate regions. Russia has a huge army and the Ukrainian army is less than half of it. Russia’s defense budget is also 10 times that of Ukraine’s.

Needless to say, Ukraine faces an army it will not be able to tackle itself. Hence it needs the support of an organization such as NATO that promises a defense alliance for its member countries.

Ukraine has been wanting to be a member since 2008, and membership was promised. Former US President George W Bush pushed for Ukraine’s inclusion under the Membership Action Plan (MAP) essential for becoming a member. However, France and Germany, citing certain eligibility criteria, blocked the move. So, Article 5 that promises ‘the principle of collective defense’ does not apply to Ukraine, which is not a member but an ally.

Ukraine had joined a NATO group called North Atlantic Cooperation Council in 1991 and signed the Partnership for Peace in 1994. Ukraine also applied for NATO membership, which is still pending. Ukraine President Volodymyr OleksandrovychZelenskyy had recently appealed to expedite the MAP decision.

Now, Russia too had signed up for the NACC and the Partnership for Peace but it never applied for NATO membership. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and NATO formed a consultation forum called the NATO-Russia Council (NRC). However, following the Kosovo crisis of 1999, military action against Georgia in 2008, and the annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO removed Russia from the cooperation council.

With Russia and the US moving in polarisingdirections, the US-dominated NATO and Russia’s relationship became more and more tumultuous.

Amid Russia’s war on Ukraine, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) has been rapidly deploying troops to member countries across eastern Europe but has clarified that it has no plans of sending them to Ukraine itself. 

Last week, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg announced that the alliance was launching its Rapid Response Force for the first time ever to bolster its defense against Russia.

The conflict could potentially escalate if NATO invokes Article 5, an agreement that ensures “collective defense”, which means that an attack on one ally will be considered an attack on all allies. This could happen if Russia shifts its target to some of Ukraine’s neigh bourse that are members of NATO.