Can parts of Ukraine become NATO territory?

Kyiv Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has described the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, as crucial for the future security of Europe. “One week to go until a key moment for our common security in Europe,” he said in his daily video address on Wednesday. For months, Kiev has been pushing for the military alliance to take in the country attacked by Russia.

“We work together with our partners as much as possible so that our common security wins in Vilnius,” Zelenskiy said. But it all depends on the partners, he said, with a view to his country’s inclusion in the alliance. Only on Tuesday did Selenski call Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg again, whose term of office had just been extended.

At least in part, concessions are being signaled to Kiev: ahead of next week’s NATO summit, the chairman of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael Roth, is calling for the contractual basis for Ukraine’s NATO membership to be expanded somewhat further. “That means I wouldn’t make a perfect peace a condition of admission,” the SPD politician told the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”.

Roth suggested saying something like: “Those parts of Ukraine that are under the reliable control of the democratic Kiev government should belong to NATO territory as soon as possible.” The obligation to provide assistance under Article 5 then also applies to them, he said.

This duty of assistance would not yet apply to other areas of Ukraine, but Ukraine would be included as a whole country. You have to “somehow get out of the terrible dilemma of possibly having to postpone NATO membership to the never-ending day,” said Roth.

Mutual allegations about the Zaporizhia NPP

Meanwhile, the situation around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, which is occupied by Russian forces, continues to cause concern. Both warring parties accuse each other of planned attacks on the nuclear facility. A day later, Moscow replied to allegations from Kiev on Tuesday that the Russians had attached explosive devices to the roofs of reactor blocks: “The danger of sabotage by the Kiev regime is great, which can have catastrophic consequences,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri According to Peskov on Wednesday, the Russian news agency Interfax.

In view of allegations of possible attacks or acts of sabotage at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the head of the Ukrainian nuclear company Enerhoatom believes that a nuclear catastrophe is currently ruled out, but not a smaller nuclear incident. If explosive devices are detonated at the plant in southern Ukraine, “we would not initially have to reckon with a nuclear disaster, but with a technical disaster,” Enerhoatom director Petro Kotin told the newspapers of the Funke media group.

Kotin said the Russians would not be able to cause a major nuclear disaster without restarting the plant. All six reactors have been shut down since last September. At the same time, Kotin warned of the consequences of detonating fuel elements that were temporarily stored in the plant. “That would lead to radioactive contamination,” he said. Since the plant has not been in operation since September, the radiation from the fuel is no longer as strong. Therefore, no evacuation measures are currently necessary.

IAEA calls for more access for inspections at Zaporizhia NPP

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is demanding extended access from the Russian occupying forces for its observers stationed in Zaporizhia. In the past few days and weeks, the IAEA experts have inspected parts of the plant – including sections of the large cooling basin – and also made regular tours of the nuclear power plant, the IAEA announced on Wednesday.

So far, no visible evidence of mines or explosives has been found, said IAEA Director Rafael Grossi. The experts have now requested additional access to check whether anything has changed. In particular, access to the roofs of reactor units three and four, as well as parts of the turbine halls and some parts of the plant’s cooling system, is critical, Grossi added.

Selenski: I would have liked the counter-offensive to start earlier

President Zelensky would have liked the counter-offensive to recapture occupied territories to begin “much earlier”. He didn’t hold his country’s western supporters directly responsible for the fact that things turned out differently. In a CNN interview, however, he said he had told the US and European partners “that we would like to start our counteroffensive earlier and that we need all the weapons and materials for it”.

For example, his troops needed longer-range missiles from the United States in order to be able to attack Russian targets far behind the front line. There are also bottlenecks in the artillery equipment.

This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:

British Embassy in Moscow recommends leaving Russia

The British embassy in Moscow has meanwhile asked all compatriots to leave Russia. “The invasion (in Ukraine) means that the situation here in Russia is unpredictable,” Ambassador Deborah Bronnert said in a video message published on the diplomatic mission’s Telegram channel on Wednesday evening. If staying in Russia is not mandatory, she advises leaving the country.

What will be important on Thursday

Ukraine continues its counter-offensive to liberate the occupied territories. The situation around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant remains tense. Meanwhile, mediation talks are being held in Brussels on Turkey’s blocking of Sweden’s accession to NATO, which is causing tensions in the alliance with its stance.

More: All developments in the Ukraine war in our news blog