New Delhi: Raking up North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership once again, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday said not admitting Ukraine is NATO's mistake, as reported by Fox News.
"It’s hard for us to talk about Nato because Nato doesn't want to admit us," Zelenskyy said. "I think it's a mistake because if we join Nato, we make Nato much stronger.”
He added, "We are not a weak state. We are not proposing to make us stronger at the expense of Nato...We are an addition, we are the locomotive. I think we are one of the important components of the European continent."
Zelenskyy has expressed hope of getting support from China amid the ongoing conflict with Russia.
"I would like the China People’s Republic to be on our side, but nevertheless it will be their choice," Zelensky said in an interview with Fox News Channel.
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Russia has repeatedly stated that it does not want Ukraine to join NATO. In fact, an organization named NATO was formed at the beginning of the Cold War to save Europe from the Soviet Union. Zelenskyy said he was ready to discuss Ukraine's commitment not to take NATO membership in exchange for a ceasefire, withdrawal of Russian troops and security guarantees amid more than a month-long war with Russia.
Russia has been attacking Ukraine for more than a month. Many cities, including the capital Kyiv, have been completely destroyed. Thousands of people have died in the war and millions of Ukrainians have to leave the city.