In 2008, NATO countries decided that they could consider including Ukraine in their military organization and formed a committee for it. But at that time, Ukraine was under so much pressure from Russia that it had to withdraw from the deal.
Since then, Ukraine has been making efforts to join NATO countries at different times. It made a similar attempt at the end of the year 2021, to which Russia strongly objected. Russia does not have the intention of letting its neighbouring country join NATO, which it considers its enemy.
NATO is a military group of 30 countries such as the US, Canada, Britain and France. The challenge facing Russia now is that some of its neighbors have already joined NATO. Among them are countries such as Estonia and Latvia, which used to be part of the Soviet Union. Now, if Ukraine also becomes an ally of NATO, then Russia will be surrounded by its enemy countries from all sides and it will be dominated by countries like the US.
NATO countries adhere to the principle that if another nation attacks any of their allies, then this attack will be considered on all NATO countries and all these countries will fight together against that nation. That is, if Ukraine was a member of NATO today, these countries would have to send their forces to Ukraine. And this is why Russia opposes Ukraine going with NATO countries.
The hero of the Revolution of Russia, Vladimir Lenin, once said that, “For Russia, losing Ukraine would be just like its head being separated from a body.” However, the question in your mind will also be that why does Ukraine want to go with NATO.
To understand this, you have to go back 100 years in history -- Russia and Ukraine before 1917. It was part of the Russian Empire, but after the Revolution of Russia in 1917, this empire disintegrated and Ukraine declared itself an independent country. Ukraine, however, survived for barely three years and joined the Soviet Union in 1920.
However, when the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, 15 new countries were formed, including Ukraine. In fact, Ukraine got independence in 1991. But Ukraine understands from the beginning that it can never fight Russia on its own and that is why it wants to join a military organization that ensures its independence in every situation.
Ukraine wants to go with NATO countries to away from the pressure of Russia, and Russia feels that if its neighbor goes with NATO, it will lead to the U.S. military to an extent dangerous to its national security.
Another major reason at the root of this war is that Russian President Vladimir Putin has cut eastern Ukraine into three pieces without fighting the war. This has increased the tension between the two countries. Putin has recognized two regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, located on the border with Russia in eastern Ukraine, as independent countries. Since 2014, Russia-backed organizations have been in control of it. Even at this time, Russia has deployed its peacekeeping forces in these two regions and you can say that now these two regions are being controlled by Russia itself.
