Putin has already lost Ukraine to NATO — military expert Musienko

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"Putin has already lost Ukraine to NATO. And I will explain my position. Let's remember how it all started, namely, with Russia's ultimatum to the United States and NATO to get out of Central Europe, which were already full members of the North Atlantic Alliance. It ended up with Finland already in NATO, and Sweden was only a matter of time. And Ukraine will join the Alliance along with the rest of them," said the head of the Center for Military Legal Studies.

Musienko noted that if this does not happen, it will be an epic fail for the West, that it accepted the Russian ultimatum and lost this war.

"No matter what they say, NATO is indirectly involved in the war. Because the ultimatum is either announced during the war or precedes the war, as it has happened many times in world history. So, if the United States and the West lose Ukraine, the battle for Ukraine, and its Euro-Atlantic future, they will lose the West as a whole. Then Putin, or whoever replaces him, and other autocrats will realize that they have shown weakness. In my opinion, there is a reason why President Biden and the United States are trying to build a coalition of support for Ukraine, which is not a NATO member but receives an appropriate level of assistance, of course, without the involvement of NATO troops. I think that there is no reversal of the process, and we need to win. The West has two options: to accept Russia's ultimatum, which would mean the continuation and expansion of the war at any time, or to finally make a strong-willed decision and let Ukraine join NATO," Musienko explained.