Poroshenko discussing including EU, NATO goals in constitution

The Poroshenko
administration is discussing proposals to amend the Ukrainian Constitution to
include Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration goals, referring to Ukraine’s
membership in the EU and NATO, the president told a Feb. 28 press conference.
Such amendments “could become insurance against any surprises and imperatives
to political forces for years ahead,” he said. “The striving for EU and NATO
membership could be fixated in the Constitution’s preamble.”

Zenon Zawada: It’s hard to imagine a more
provocative gesture for further Russian aggression than such a move, especially
with the Russian government openly stating that it will not tolerate NATO
forces coming to its border with Ukraine. The president’s suggestion also comes
at a time when it’s becoming increasingly obvious that Russia is preparing for
a large-scale war, as observed by many political and military experts. Ukraine
can quietly and gradually pursue NATO integration without such bold
declarations.

The standard response to this argument is that Russia can’t be appeased.
Yet that begs the question of why even consider a UN peacekeeping mission in
Donbas, which is the main subject of negotiations currently. Obviously, Western
leaders are holding out hope that Russia’s geopolitical ambitions can be
appeased with the incentive of removing financial and travel-related sanctions
currently in place.