That is a good point, I never thought deeply about that. As far as I know, Ukraine NATO relationships still progressed even after 2014. So even though an actual

That is a good point, I never thought deeply about that. As far as I know, Ukraine NATO relationships still progressed even after 2014. So even though an actual membership was not possible for essentially technical reasons, the intention was still there and progress was arguably made. So maybe the situation was not judged as satisfactory, no official membership but a defacto membership in the making. Other contributing reasons like resources including water for Crimea.