Welcoming Ukraine into NATO would be tantamount to encouraging escalation towards a world war, Iranian MP Abolfazl Amouei told Sputnik.
Such a move would risk bringing all NATO members to war with Russia, he added.
Article 5 of the Atlantic Alliance treaty stipulates that an armed attack against one of the members "shall be considered an attack against them all."
Abolfazl Amouei therefore deplores the fact that Western countries are engaged in this one-upmanship instead of favoring diplomatic channels with Moscow.
"Instead of thinking about exporting cluster bombs and other lethal weapons that will lead to massacres, or about Ukraine joining NATO, Western countries should have paid attention to a political solution to the crisis through dialogue with Russia," he told Sputnik.
In early July, US President Joe Biden made a similar point, declaring that if Kiev were to join NATO while the conflict continues, "we're [NATO members] all in war. We're at war with Russia, if that were the case."
Difficult Membership
NATO's recent summit in Vilnius revealed major differences between members over Kiev's potential membership. Volodymyr Zelensky lost his cool over the prevarication.
The Ukrainian president described as "absurd and unprecedented" the absence of a deadline for accession, and criticized the "vague wording" on entry conditions.
This attitude seems to have annoyed certain alliance members, who subsequently pointed this out to him.
"Whether we like it or not, people want to see a bit of gratitude", said British Defense Minister Ben Wallace, pointing out that the West was bleeding its stocks to supply Kiev with weapons.
NATO is ultimately dependent on the decisions of each of its members, and some are not inclined to write blank checks to their leaders on the Ukraine question, as international affairs expert David Garcia Contreras recently explained to Sputnik.