Ukraine and NATO: Problems, Challenges, Prospects

Since the beginning of Ukraine's independence, namely on 24 August 1991, there has been a lively debate among social and legal theorists and practitioners alike as to the advisability of Ukraine joining NATO. However, this issue became particularly relevant after February 24 2022, when the Russian Federation launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, and of course, it remains on the agenda until now, as it concerns guarantees of national security and independence of the state. Based on this, the purpose of the study is to identify current problems, challenges, and prospects related to the process of Ukraine's accession to NATO. To achieve this goal, the method of analysis and synthesis, comparison, deduction, and historical methods were used in the study. As a result, it was found that Ukraine's accession to NATO is a priority for its future development and security. The paper managed to analyse the main Euro-Atlantic prospects for Ukraine, the most important of which at the moment is the protection of its territory by other member countries of the alliance. The analysed modern challenges allowed the authors to establish that in the conditions of the current Russian-Ukrainian war, the Ukrainian authorities implemented a number of measures aimed at developing the military-political industry, in particular, they abandoned the non-aligned position, approved the updated national security strategy of Ukraine, and most importantly approved the Euro-Atlantic direction of Ukraine's development in the Constitution of Ukraine. In conclusion, it was possible to reveal not only the priority of Ukraine's accession to NATO, but also to investigate the practical means and tools that are already being used to implement this process. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that its results can be used both by theorists for an in-depth investigation of this topic, and by practitioners, in particular by legislators, in the development of new laws and regulations related to the Euro-Atlantic process