UKRAINE – THE NATO: MUTUAL RELATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS MAIN STAGES

Abstract

The aim of the research is to identify and analyse the main stages of Ukraine's relations with the North Atlantic Alliance by characterizing the milestones and optimizing the main parameters of interaction in the context of the latest geopolitical coordinates. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of objectivity and historicism, as well as general and specialized scientific methods and the interdisciplinary and systematic approaches application. The scientific novelty is that, for the first time in historiography, the author’s periodization of Ukraine’s relation with the NATO has been proposed. The Conclusions. The NATO-Ukraine relations have come a long way from the Special Partnership Charter, the Action Plan, the Intensified Dialogue on Membership, and others. documents that have generated significant versatile potential for the Euro-Atlantic choices. The NATO and Ukraine have a long history of mutual relations, from multi-vector and neutrality to accelerated integration and constitutional consolidation of Ukraine’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Characteristic of Ukraine-NATO cooperation is the process of its structural modernization and intensification of political dialogue in the political and military spheres. Under current conditions, the NATO-Ukraine relations play an important role in enhancing Ukraine’s defense capability to counter the Russian aggression, will help strengthen national security, reform the armed forces by the NATO standards, and create the foundations for Ukraine’s democratic development. Ukraine’s further movement to the NATO appears to be an alternative in today’s international and regional security environment. The acceleration of Ukraine’s emergence as a full-fledged component of the Euro-Atlantic civilization and its promotion to the NATO membership depends on the political will of the new political generation and Ukrainian society