No NATO, nukes for Ukraine, but U.S. weighing weapons, Volker says

The Ukrainian government is reforming its army based on
NATO standards and is working towards full integration into Euro-Atlantic
structures, President Poroshenko told the nation in his Independence Day
address on Aug. 24. “We have one road – the wide Euro-Atlantic highway that
leads to membership in the EU and NATO. On this road, we have already ruined
the ‘visa curtain’,” he said, stressing that the Ukraine-EU Association
Agreement takes full effect on Sept. 1.

At the moment, Ukraine isn’t ready to join NATO, Kurt
Volker, the U.S. special representative to Ukraine, told Ukrainian television
on Aug. 26. “I deeply respect Ukraine but for now, I still don’t believe that
Ukraine is ready to join NATO, and NATO is ready to accept Ukraine in the
current situation,” he said. Volker also expressed his opposition to Ukraine’s
renewal of its nuclear program, which it surrendered in 1994 as part of the
Budapest Memorandum that was supposed to ensure the nation’s security by
Russia, the U.S. and the U.K. Nonetheless, Volker said it was “a good decision”
for Ukraine that was correct.

The Trump administration is seriously considering
giving Ukraine lethal defensive weapons, Volker said in an interview with ft.com. He said the decision ultimately lies with the
U.S. president. “So far there isn’t any new policy” towards Ukraine under the
Trump administration, he said. “But people are considering this very seriously
on a very high level.”

In his Aug. 24 visit to Kyiv, U.S. Defense Secretary James
Mattis said he intends to recommend that the president approve lethal defensive
weapons for Ukraine. “Defense weapons can’t provoke anyone. They can only
provoke an aggressor. And Ukraine isn’t an aggressor. It’s fighting for its own
territory,” he said in a press conference that day.