Italian PM proposes extending NATO's Article 5 to Ukraine - Foreign Ministry responds
Photo: Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Heorhii Tykhyi (Vitalii Nosach/RBC-Ukraine)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is negotiating with Italy regarding Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s initiative to extend NATO’s Article 5 to Ukraine without granting official membership. The Ukrainian side is working with Italian partners to clarify the details of this proposal, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Heorhii Tykhyi.
According to Tykhyi, the Ukrainian side welcomes Meloni’s statement as part of the discussion on providing Ukraine with early security guarantees and ensuring security and peace for Ukraine in general.
“We are in contact with our Italian partners to understand the specifics of this proposal. So far, it has been presented as a general idea. We want to clarify what exactly is meant in more detail, more specifically within this discussion,” said the Foreign Ministry spokesperson.
NATO’s Article 5 states that an armed attack on one of the Alliance’s member countries shall be considered an attack on all members.
Ukraine’s NATO membership
Ukraine hoped to receive an official invitation to NATO at the Washington Summit in July 2024, but this did not happen. Kyiv insists on a clear timeline for accession, but the Alliance maintains that membership is only possible after the war ends.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated during a Ramstein-format meeting that Washington does not consider Ukraine’s NATO accession a realistic option within the framework of peace negotiations.
US President Donald Trump has also expressed skepticism about Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance, calling it unlikely and impractical, and later even advised Kyiv to “forget about NATO.”
In response, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that if Ukraine does not become a member of the Alliance, then NATO troops must be present on Ukrainian territory. According to him, an alternative to membership could be the deployment of NATO forces in Ukraine with an army matching Russia’s in size.
Recently, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni proposed extending NATO’s Article 5 collective security protections to Ukraine without granting the country full membership in the Alliance.
