Ukraine Can Receive NATO Security Guarantees Before Achieving Full Membership

Ukraine should rely on military-technical cooperation with NATO countries to ensure a technological advantage over Russia in the future. This requires the integration of Ukraine's defence industry into the Euro-Atlantic defence industrial space, the acquisition of necessary technologies from the West, and the arrival of Western businesses in Ukraine. 

This opinion was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by Volodymyr Horbulin, First Vice President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Ukrainian Security Studies Institute.

When asked how to find a balanced solution when Ukraine seeks a ‘quick victory’ and its Western partners seek ‘escalation risk management’, the academician replied: ‘Definitely in the potential of military-technical cooperation.’

‘This is not only a powerful and massive integration of Ukraine's defence industry into the Euro-Atlantic defence industrial space, but also the acquisition of the necessary technologies that will provide a technological advantage for the future. In addition, the arrival of Western businesses in Ukraine will not only allow us to fully switch to modern Western and Ukrainian-Western equipment, but will also become a prerequisite for security guarantees even before Ukraine gains full NATO membership,’ Horbulin explained.

He emphasised that the West will try to protect its businesses deployed in Ukraine, and only then will it be possible to talk seriously about military bases of NATO or individual NATO countries in Ukraine. The Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences does not rule out the creation of sub-regional military and political associations, for example, between Ukraine, Poland, Britain and the Baltic States.

‘To a certain extent, military-technical cooperation is also Ukraine's path to long-term security and economic growth, largely due to the latest defence technologies. In addition, it is also an opportunity to push Russia out of a number of regional arms markets, which will certainly be part of a long-term technological deterrence,’ the academician said.

Horbulin also supports the creation of a single technology development centre, in accordance with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decree. ‘The 170 types of drones in the Armed Forces are both an achievement and a problem, as they disperse resources. We need to unify and come up with at least two or three dozen types within a few years. This is the case in many areas of weapons development and production,’ he said.