No outside actor can prevent Ukraine’s NATO membership, says Polish president

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - No outside actor can prevent Ukraine’s eventual NATO membership, said Polish President Andrzej Duda, according to the state media on Wednesday night.

Speaking to reporters in Washington for a NATO summit in Washington, he said such a decision could only be taken by NATO members and the Ukrainian people, whose view on the matter is already clear, according to the state-run PAP news agency.

“No one from the outside can block such a decision, no one apart from NATO countries, which decide if a given country can join the alliance, and (the) society of this state, which in a democratic way lays down directions of its policy,” Duda said.

"I hope that the ongoing NATO summit in Washington will show that the road to NATO for Ukraine is irreversible," Duda said, stressing that he meant the alliance's readiness to accept it as a new member.

"But the decision, above all, belongs to the Ukrainian people," he reiterated.

But Duda emphasized that Ukraine’s membership is not possible as long as the war is continuing.

“Today, when there is a war going on, this would mean NATO's automatic involvement in the war against Russia. And this is what nobody wants” he said.

Duda is in Washington, DC for a NATO leaders summit which is set to conclude later Thursday.

Outside of Ukraine and Russia, which it borders, few countries besides Poland have felt more of an impact due to the war, which began in February 2022.​​​​​​​