July 3, 2024

The possibility of Ukraine’s future NATO membership is being hotly debated ahead of the alliance’s upcoming summit in Washington.

Dozens of foreign policy experts on Wednesday called on NATO members to avoid advancing toward Ukrainian membership at the summit, warning that it would endanger the U.S. and allies and rupture the coalition. If Ukraine is admitted, the group argues, Russia attacking Ukraine in the future would trigger NATO’s Article 5, which calls on allies to defend the member attacked.

The Article 5 argument is common among those opposing Ukraine’s membership, but such a public stance from more than 60 analysts provides a sneak peek at the arguments likely to be levied at the three-day event starting on Tuesday.

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