WASHINGTON, August 30 (RIA Novosti) - Kiev's decision to pursue NATO membership has nothing to do with Western designs, former US Ambassador to USSR Jack Matlock told RIA Novosti.
“It is current Russian action, not Western policy or desire, that is creating an incentive in both Ukraine and NATO for Ukrainian membership,” Matlock said. “By far the biggest factor in this decision has been the military support Russia has given the separatists in the eastern provinces in Ukraine.”
The former ambassador’s comments come in response to Ukraine Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk’s new legislation to formally become a member of the NATO alliance. On Friday, Yatsenyuk said on his Facebook page that with parliament approval, the path to NATO will be open.
Recent events in Ukraine’s east have altered the perception of many in the West, who gave support for Kiev’s military crackdown against independence supporters. Analysts have suggested in recent days that the failure of the talks between Ukrainian and Russian presidents in Belarus, and the emergency meeting convened at Ukraine’s request in Brussels are reactions to a deepening military and political failure in Kiev.
Matlock served as US ambassador to Russia under George H. W. Bush at the end of the Cold War. He has criticized the foreign policy of both the United States and Russia since the onset of the Ukraine crisis, accusing the US of “a cycle of dismissive actions” to Russian concerns and national interests, and Russia of “overreactions.”
