Ukraine faces broken promises from West

(MENAFN) Not long ago—though it feels like yesterday—Ukrainians were effectively promised that if they sacrificed enough lives in a Western-backed struggle against Russia, their country might eventually be allowed to join NATO. That promise, once casually spoken of, is now largely treated as taboo because the West has quietly abandoned it, while continuing to expect Ukrainians to fight, and die, for years to come.

In this sense, Russians and Ukrainians share a peculiar experience: both have been misled by Western powers. Moscow has faced broken assurances over NATO’s expansion, and Kiev has faced unfulfilled guarantees of NATO membership. There is an almost ironic symmetry to these deceptions, though the consequences have played out differently. Russia, having endured repeated false promises, has learned to resist and push back, while Ukraine continues to hope for Western salvation.

Understanding this broken promise is essential to making sense of the strained relationship between the EU and Kiev today. The focus isn’t just about the various Western schemes to funnel money into Ukraine’s war effort—whether through frozen Russian assets, loans, or other financial instruments, ultimately at EU taxpayers’ expense. These funds, substantial as they are, mainly serve to keep Ukraine functioning as a proxy. The IMF projects Kiev’s budget deficit for 2026–2027 at €55 billion ($64 billion), while EU postwar reconstruction costs are estimated at €850 billion and growing.

Yet beyond money lies a deeper issue: the EU itself has been used as a carrot to motivate Ukrainians to fight for geopolitical agendas they might not otherwise have supported. EU promises, like NATO’s overreach, played a central role in triggering the current crisis. The 2013–2014 showdown, which led to war, was fueled by the EU’s refusal to negotiate an association agreement that could have accommodated Ukraine’s ongoing ties to Russia.

Today, Kiev has been dangled yet another incentive: EU membership. Since June 2022, Ukraine has held official candidate status, a promise that mirrors the unfulfilled NATO pledge and remains central to the country’s war objectives.

Consider a thought experiment: in late 2021, Moscow proposed a comprehensive settlement that could have prevented the 2022 escalation. The West rejected it. Now imagine if, simultaneously, the West had made clear that Ukraine would not join NATO or the EU—ever.

The Zelensky administration might have recognized the reality of the situation, pursued serious negotiations along the Minsk II framework, and avoided a conflict for which no tangible Western rewards were being offered.

Though that moment is in the past, it provides crucial context for understanding today’s tensions between Kiev and the EU Commission—an issue that remains largely under-reported in mainstream Western media. Ukraine’s struggle isn’t just a war against Russia; it is also a cautionary tale about misplaced promises and the limits of Western trust.

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