The former NATO general cited West Germany, which joined NATO in 1955 before unifying with Soviet satellite East Germany in 1990, as an example of an occupied territory joining the military alliance.
“Although part of Germany was occupied by the Soviet Union … the rest was accepted into NATO,” Pavel said. “So I think that there is both technically and a legal solution to allow Ukraine to join NATO without bringing NATO into conflict with the Russian Federation.”
As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine grinds on, Moscow still controls about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory. Kyiv reclaimed some land Russian troops seized in the initial days of the 2022 invasion, but has made slower gains dislodging Moscow’s forces from the east of the country.
