West Should Stop Dragging Ukraine into NATO - Gorbachev

[pampango]

4. Agree about not dragging Ukraine in, but should NATO block Ukraine out?

Gorbachev writes that in his view the Ukrainian conflict can only be settled through dialogue, both inside the country and at an international level. He points out that leading nations were largely to blame for the current dire situation, as from the very beginning they were testing Ukraine’s integrity. EU countries, and first of all Germany and France, have already understood this and are taking steps to de-escalate the crisis, which is a good thing, the ex-president says.

Gorbachev also emphasized that good relations with Russia must become a priority in Ukraine’s foreign policy and this should also be understood and accepted by Western nations. Leaders of these nations should stop dragging Ukraine into NATO because these attempts would result in nothing but strife between Ukraine and Russia.

I imagine that Ukrainians understand that it is important to have "good relations with Russia". (If they did not understand that before, they should now.) The question is: Can Ukraine be a fully sovereign country and still have "good relations with Russia"? In most of the world 'full sovereignty' and good international relations are not mutually exclusive.

Are there countries that NATO has blocked out, telling them they can never join even if they want to?