“In Ukraine, we are strongly convinced that EU integration has a small chance to be successful if there are no clear security guarantees. And NATO is the cheapest, most available, and the easiest way to provide that”.

Leo Litra, Senior Research Fellow at New Europe Center, Visiting Fellow at ECFR, spoke at webinar “Ukraine has a plan. Does the EU have one?” organized by European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Together with Gustav Gressel, Senior Policy Fellow at ECFR, Jana Kobzova, Visiting Fellow at ECFR, Lesia Ogryzko, Visiting Fellow at ECFR, and Director of Sahaidachnyi Security Center and moderator Marie Dumoulin, Director Wider Europe Programme at ECFR, the experts discussed Ukraine`s Victory Plan. Over 80 participatins joined the webinar.

Leo Litra reflected on how to support Ukraine in the field of security, taking into consideration the Victory Plan presented by Ukraine:

• The first thing is that all the EU states that support Ukraine have to openly state that they support the victory plan of Ukraine. This is like a litmus test to see who is really on the side of Ukraine. So far, we have only a couple of countries who publicly declared their support for the Victory Plan. I think there is frustration among Ukrainian leadership that many European states did not articulate clearly their support for this plan. Everyone looks towards the U.S. and the upcoming elections, although these will not significantly change the policy of the US to play a less important role in Europe’s security.
• The second is to articulate that most of the European states actually support Ukraine`s invitation and membership in NATO. There is still a lot of work to do in convincing some of the partners. However, for Ukraine and the West, NATO is the best option, the cheapest and the most available;
• The third element is President Macron’s idea of sending troops to Ukraine, which is having a comeback into the debate because we all understand that at some point, low-intensity conflict of a cease-fire will be in place. Moreover, Ukraine needs to have real intermediate security guarantees for a very vulnerable period, which is from invitation to NATO to membership. I think that the Сoalition of Resolute is the answer to this question. It could start with instructors and spill over into new elements such as air defence and some other components, which would strengthen Ukraine’s ability to defend itself.

We are thankful for the invitation to speak at ECFR`s event!