Poroshenko in Sweden: Ukraine is now effectively an “Article 5” for NATO

Petro Poroshenko, speaking at the annual security conference in Visby, Sweden, stated that there is no alternative to NATO as a security alliance, and there is no alternative to Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance.

He noted that our state effectively acts as the guarantor of Article 5, protecting Alliance countries from Russian aggression.

“Is there any alternative to NATO? Of course, we are taking a creative approach at the regional, European, and global levels. For example, our cooperation in the Nordic-Baltic G8 plus Ukraine format is extremely effective. We should utilize everything, including the NB8, but NATO is the priority,” Poroshenko said.

“How can we keep NATO strong? We must maintain transatlantic optimism and not allow Russia to destroy it. And remember: we trust NATO not because they are great, but rather, they are great because we trust them. Ukraine’s membership in NATO is clearly an issue that remains on the agenda. We know what to do, and I am proud to have authored the amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution regarding full NATO membership. We must certainly emulate the Finnish and Swedish experience,” the fifth President emphasized.

“NATO is being challenged not only from without, but also from within through populism. We have Article 5 against external aggression, but no Article 5 can protect us from political division. And we could find ourselves in a situation where NATO is weakened without a single Russian soldier crossing any of the Alliance’s borders,” Poroshenko warned.

“Ukraine is already acting as a kind of ‘Article 5’ for NATO. We’re doing the hard work and fighting back against Russian aggression every day. We’re defending our European neighbors, defending NATO, and we’re doing it brilliantly,” Poroshenko stated.

He also noted that Ukraine, which is suffering from the horrors of a brutal, full-scale war, no longer has to prove its right to membership in the Alliance: “I want to ask: what else should Ukraine do after Bucha, after Kharkiv, after Kherson, to have the great honor of being a member of NATO?” Petro Poroshenko noted.