“It does not look like Ukraine will join the Western defense alliance because, according to the NATO Charter, member-states must help a fellow member in the event of a conflict. But in the case of Ukraine, NATO does not need this,” Viktoria Legranova said in an interview with Sputnik.
“What it needs is military-political and, if necessary, combat-stage control over the Ukrainian military,” she added.
“As a result, NATO will be able to set up a network of tactical operational centers across Ukraine to control the country’s armed forces and also the paramilitary groups, active there. If, for some reason, the government slips out of [Western] control or a new president comes to power, these paramilitary units could be used to restore the status-quo,” Viktoria Legranova noted.
Ukraine’s military chief of staff, General Viktor Muzhenko, earlier said that NATO specialists would help draw up the concept of Ukraine’s defense buildup until 2020.
According to Ukraine’s new military doctrine, by 2020 the country’s armed forces are to become fully compatible with NATO standards.
