TORONTO (Reuters) – Estonian President Aral Kalis said on Thursday that the only security Ukraine could gain was joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which will take time but will come eventually. At the same time, he noted that NATO would not respond with nuclear weapons to Russia’s nuclear progress.
“Ukraine wants to join NATO. As an Estonian, I can assure you that security through NATO membership is the only security,” Kalis said in a speech at the Munch Institute of International Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. “We must seriously consider expanding NATO and Ukraine’s application for membership,” he said.
“Ukraine’s NATO membership will not happen the day after the war ends,” he said, referring to the rapid progress of the admission procedures of Sweden and Finland. Like Estonia, it would be more realistic to join the European Union first and then join NATO.
“We are aware of the concerns that the restoration of territorial integrity by Ukraine would mean defeating Russia and that this could lead to the destabilization or collapse of Russia,” he said. If Russia attacked countries other than Ukraine, it would target not only European countries such as the Baltics but also NATO member countries, and NATO would respond in that case, he said. But even if Russian President Vladimir Putin pushes the “nuclear button,” NATO will not respond with nuclear weapons.
President Kallis visited Canada to attend the Halifax International Security Forum held in Nova Scotia. He also met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.
