Italian PM proposes extending NATO's Article 5 security umbrella to Ukraine
Photo: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (Getty Images)
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has suggested extending NATO's Article 5 collective security protections to Ukraine without granting the country full membership in the Alliance on the sidelines of the EU leaders' meeting in Brussels.
"The central issue is peace in Ukraine, and I believe we must all make every effort to support the peace process, welcoming the US initiative and all those who seek to achieve peace. However, a just peace requires clear security guarantees," Meloni stated.
According to her, these guarantees must be based on NATO, as it is the only serious means of ensuring them. She argued that sending unspecified military contingents, whether British or otherwise, would be the most complex and possibly least effective solution. She also ruled out any deployment of Italian troops in this context.
Meloni stressed the need for long-term security solutions rather than simply sending troops to Ukraine.
"UN peacekeeping missions are a different matter, but this is a completely different topic, because such missions are deployed when the peace process has already begun. That is not what is currently being discussed, and I remain very skeptical about such proposals," she added.
She further explained that extending NATO’s Article 5 protections to Ukraine would be a more effective approach than other security guarantees currently under discussion.
"This is not the same as joining NATO, but it would provide Ukraine with the same security umbrella that NATO countries have. It would ensure stable, long-term, and real security guarantees - more than some of the proposals I see now. That is one of the ideas we are putting forward," Meloni clarified.
She noted that discussions on this initiative are ongoing and that Italy is actively working on it.
"This does not mean it will necessarily be implemented, but we believe it is important to continue meeting, discussing, and advancing in this direction. There are no concrete timelines yet, but I see considerable interest in this idea from our partners," Meloni concluded.
For reference, NATO’s Article 5 states that an attack on one NATO member is considered an attack on the entire Alliance.
Ukraine’s NATO membership
Ukraine had hoped to receive an official invitation to join NATO at the Washington summit in July 2024, but that did not happen. The Ukrainian government insists on a clear timetable for membership, while the Alliance states that accession is only possible after the war is over.
At the same time, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated during a Ramstein meeting that the US does not consider Ukraine's NATO membership a realistic outcome of peace negotiations.
Additionally, US President Donald Trump has said he views Ukraine's NATO membership as unlikely or impractical.
Later, Trump advised Ukraine to forget about joining the Alliance.
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that if Ukraine does not join NATO, the Alliance must have a presence on Ukrainian territory. He suggested that an alternative to NATO membership could be the stationing of NATO troops in Ukraine, with a military force on the ground comparable in size to Russia’s.
