NATO Should Either Accept Ukraine Or Openly Say They Are Afraid Of Russia, Says Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that NATO should either say now that they are accepting Ukraine, or openly say they are not accepting the country because they are afraid of Russia.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy | AFP

New Delhi: The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should either say now that they are accepting Ukraine, or openly say they are not accepting the country because they are afraid of Russia, Ukrainian media outlet The Kyiv Independent reported.

“NATO should either say now that they are accepting us, or openly say they are not accepting us because they are afraid of Russia – which is true,” The Kyiv Independed quoted Zelenskyy as saying during an interview to Suspilne, the national public broadcaster in Ukraine. 

In the interview, Zelenskyy also said that the answer is very simple. “We already understand. We are not accepted because they are afraid of Russia. That’s all,” he said. 

“And then we need to calm down and say – ok, there are NATO member countries that can provide us security guarantees without a membership in NATO,” the Ukrainian President added. 

“That’s where the compromise exists. That’s where the end of the war is,” he further said.

Zelenskyy also said that there cannot be any “denazification” in the agreement with Russia, The Kyiv Independent reported. 

“When a country that is treading in the footsteps of the Nazi is accusing us of being Nazi – we can’t accept that,” he said. 

Russian troops launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognised Ukraine’s breakaway regions, Donetsk and Lugansk as independent republics. This was followed by the announcement of a “special military operation” to “denazify” Ukraine, according to media reports. 

Zelenskyy reiterated his stance of not surrendering. “Let’s say they demand to get Kharkiv, or Mariupol, or Kyiv. People in these cities won’t let them do it. The only way they can seize the cities is to kill everyone, and take the empty city,” the media outlet quoted the President as saying in the interview. 

“That’s where the compromise exists. That’s where the end of the war is,” he said.

In an exclusive interview to CNN, Zelenskyy said that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if his country had been a member of NATO. “If we were a NATO member, a war wouldn’t have started. I’d like to receive security guarantees for my country, for my people. If NATO members are ready to see us in the alliance, then do it immediately because people are dying on a daily basis,” CNN quoted the Ukrainian President as saying.

Zelenskyy said in the interview to Suspilne that the all-Ukrainian referendum will finally resolve the compromises in the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. He added that this applies to security guarantees, the temporarily occupied territories of Donbass and Crimea.

According to Zelenskyy, the issues of security guarantee will be about constitutional changes and changes in Ukrainian legislation, The Kyiv Independent reported.