The team of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky privately called on the leadership of the Alliance to issue an official invitation to join Ukraine as early as next week. British journalists learned about it.
Points of attention
- Ukraine's invitation to NATO can send a signal to Russia and confirm Kyiv's strategic plans.
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposes a strategy for Ukraine's accession to NATO.
- The ceasefire and the return of the occupied territories are the key points of the president's plan.
Ukraine continues its struggle to join NATO
According to the journalists, they had a letter from the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiga.
In it, the diplomat called on his NATO colleagues to extend an invitation to Kyiv when they meet in Brussels next week.
The head of state's team does not deny the fact that Ukraine cannot join NATO as long as the war continues.
But extending the invitation now, Kyiv believes, will demonstrate to the illegitimate Russian president, Vladimir Putin, that one of his main goals — to prevent Ukraine from becoming a NATO member — cannot be achieved.
Despite the fact that the Alliance recently made it clear to Kyiv that there is currently no consensus in the bloc regarding an invitation to Ukraine, Sybiga's letter states that now is the optimal time for such an invitation.
This will be an adequate response of the Allies to the constant escalation of the war unleashed by Russia, the latest demonstration of which is the involvement of tens of thousands of North Korean troops and the use of Ukraine as a testing ground for new weapons, says the letter of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
Ukraine's entry into NATO. What is Zelensky saying now
Head of State Volodymyr Zelenskyi voiced the assumption that a cease-fire agreement with Russia could be concluded if the unoccupied territories controlled by Ukraine would be under NATO protection.
According to the president, this will make it possible to negotiate the return of the rest of the territory later "by diplomatic means".
If we want to stop the heated phase of the war, we need to bring under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control. We need to do this quickly. And then Ukraine can return the temporarily occupied territories through diplomatic means.
Volodymyr Zelenskyi
President of Ukraine
According to the Ukrainian leader, the ceasefire is necessary to ensure that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin "does not return" to seize Ukrainian territories.
