Nato writes on their web site that "Participation in the MAP does not prejudge any decision by the Alliance on future membership" https://www.nato.int/cps/en/n

Nato writes on their web site that "Participation in the MAP does not prejudge any decision by the Alliance on future membership" https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_37356.htm https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_37356.htm --in other words their being invited into a MAP does not mean they would have been invited to become a member. When the USSR collapsed, George Bush the elder was President, and he was one of the US's best Presidents on foreign policy, and no way he would've gone along with offering NATO membership to Ukraine. If the Obama adminstration was willing to do it, I find that depressing because NATO does not have the conventional military strength to defend Ukraine from a Russian invasion, and of course would be unwilling to launch a nuclear attack on Russia over the fate of Ukraine. It would be a mistake for NATO to make any public commitment it is not willing and able to keep. Credibility is essential for avoiding war.