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Rasmussen's NATO proposal and Russia's Kyiv strikes
Summary
A look back at a security picture in mid-November 2023, when a membership idea surfaced as missiles returned to the capital.
What did the security picture around Ukraine look like on 14 November 2023? Three developments from the preceding days framed it: a renewed missile attack on Kyiv, a strike on a commercial ship near Odesa, and a proposal on NATO membership.
On 11 November 2023, Russia launched its first missile attacks against Kyiv in 52 days. Most of the ballistic missiles were intercepted by Ukrainian air defences, and no casualties were reported. The attack ended a 52-day gap in strikes on the capital and showed the role air defences played in protecting it.
On 8 November 2023, a Russian missile strike hit a Liberian-flagged vessel entering the Pivdennyi Port in Odesa Oblast. One crew member was killed and four others were injured. The vessel was being used to transport iron ore to China. The strike showed that commercial shipping around the southern ports remained exposed to attack.
A proposal on NATO membership
The political debate ran in parallel. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former NATO Secretary General, put forward a proposal for Ukraine to join the alliance without the territories occupied by Russia. Coverage of the proposal appeared on 11 and 12 November 2023.
The idea set Ukraine's prospective membership against the question of occupied land. It was a proposal from a former alliance chief, not an alliance decision.
Why it mattered
Taken together, the developments pointed to two tracks. On the ground, Russia continued to target the capital and the southern ports, and Ukrainian air defences intercepted most of the ballistic missiles aimed at Kyiv. In diplomacy, the discussion of how Ukraine might join NATO was moving into more specific territory, with proposals that addressed the occupied areas directly.
