The EU has a mutual defense compact, and the majority of EU countries are in NATO, so the EU as an entity is a NATO member by default. Ukrainian membership in the EU would be NATO membership for Ukraine by default. That’s why Zelensky wants to get into the EU so badly. It would make Ukraine an Article V country indirectly. Georgia and Moldova are seeking EU membership for the same reason. Understandable on their part, but the EU would be wise to reject this.

Forming a mutual defense pact with additional states on the Russian border committing to war on their behalf seems like overreach and an overly provocative act. It’s possible to take a more middle-of-the-road position that recognizes the legitimacy of Russia’s claim of supposedly wanting neutral states on its border while establishing a de facto Iron Curtain beyond that and supporting border states against Russia more indirectly.

It’s best to make Russia consistently look like the bad faith actor. There’s also the matter of giving the Russians enough rope to hang themselves. There are a lot of people around the world, governments as well as ordinary citizens, who admire Putin as a supposed enemy of Western imperialism. In order to isolate Russia internationally, it’s good for world opinion to come to the point of saying to Putin, “You’re just an asshole. Fuck you.” To some degree, that is what has happened to America. After 9/11, world opinion was solidly on our side. But we blew a ton of political capital with subsequent actions in a wide range of places. Now a lot of folks are thinking Russia and/or China or the good guys.

By Vivienne Walt, Fortune

In an urgent video message posted on Monday, Zelenskyy made a stark appeal to his neighbors to the west: Let the country join the European Union—and fast.

“We are grateful for our partners for being with us. But our goal is to be with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be equal,” he said, wearing what has become his trademark olive-green sweatshirt. “I am confident that it is fair. I am confident that we have deserved it. I am confident that this is all possible.”

On Tuesday afternoon, he repeated his urgent request during an emergency session of the EU Parliament in Brussels. “Nobody is going to break us,” he said by video link, in a highly charged speech that won a long-standing ovation from lawmakers. “We are fighting for our freedoms, for our lives, and now, for our survival…Prove that you are with us. And then life will win over death.”

With Russian tanks rolling across his country and bombs hitting civilian neighborhoods, Zelenskyy has strong reason to want to join the 27-nation bloc. The EU treaty includes a mutual defense pact similar to NATO’s, in which its members agree to fight militarily against an outside attack on any one of its countries. If Ukraine were in the EU, Russia would now be facing massive firepower from France, Germany, and others, instead of the Ukrainian military alone. Until now, Ukraine has on paper been a “neutral” country, remaining outside both the EU and NATO.

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