Transatlantic Strategic partnership and crisis in Ukraine

Oksana Mitrofanova

Ph. D. (Political Studies) senior transatlantic fellow of the Institute of World History NAS

UDС 327(73+4)

DOI: http://doi.org/10.17721/2524-048X.2015.01.178-189

The events in Ukraine of 2014-2015 led the NATO countries leaders to the elaboration of cooperation strategy to resolve the Ukrainian crisis and to create the new European security architecture. The sequence of events once again highlighted, at first, the difficulty of a common position elaboration, and, at second, raised a question about its effectiveness.

This article analyses the concepts of NATO’s countries about crisis in Ukraine, the difference in the approaches of different actors and government officials towards the help to Ukraine and the evaluation of hypothetical threats to their own countries, highlights the difficulties of North Atlantic alliance common position becoming.

The transatlantic strategic partnership is mainly intended to ensure the security of the North Atlantic Alliance. The crisis in Ukraine doesn’t currently concern the security of NATO countries but it raises questions about transatlantic solidarity in a case of spreading the conflict zone and consensus in evaluating the risks and in choosing methods to influence Russia. If NATO countries demonstrated their unity in their desire to protect the borders of the alliance and 188 strengthened its military component at the eastern border of NATO, there isn’t any common position about the sanctions and methods to help Ukraine even within one country. While the Eastern countries of NATO are concerned about hypothetical probability of spreading of conflict on its territory, the Western countries of NATO hope that Russian aggression will not touch them. Furthermore, the nuclear states rely on their own nuclear weapons as an element of deterrence. There are supporters of arming Ukraine and their opponents in NATO countries, not to mention members of powerful business lobby opposing to sanctions for their own profit.

It is significant that the transatlantic strategic partnership remains strong in ensuring defense of NATO countries for what was actually established this organization in 1949. The personality of NATO leaders plays the own role in the transatlantic cooperation. The commitment to the transatlantic strategic partnership or to the profit of own state can be chosen by an individual, as in the case of supplying «Mistral» to Russia by France.

Keywords

Budapest Memorandum, EU, NATO, the USA, transatlantic partnership, Ukraine.

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