McFate Offers Perspective on the NATO Summit and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in USA Today Article

July 25, 2023

USA Today

Sean McFate

Maxwell in Washington, D.C.

Defense & Security

NATO

Ukraine

USA Today

Sean McFate

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the NATO summit without more definitive assurances of membership but he didn't leave empty-handed. Zelenskyy received fresh pledges of weapons and ammunition to fight Russia’s invasion along with longer-term security commitments from the West.

Zelenskyy expressed gratitude but said a membership invitation would be "optimum."

Sean McFate, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs, thinks Zelenskyy is in trouble.

McFate says Zelenskyy kept pushing NATO countries for increasingly sophisticated weapons on the promise that Ukraine would have a decisive spring offensive.

"When the offensive happened, it was summer and failing,'' McFate says. "NATO is not impressed, and he’s lost a lot of political capital." He describes Zelenskyy's demands as "poor strategic judgment."