2023-06-02 20:17:46
In a rare admission, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called his country’s entry into NATO before the end of the war “impossible”.
Zelenskyi told journalists on Friday after a meeting with Estonian President Alar Karis that his country understands that it will not drag any NATO member into a war. At the NATO summit in July, Zelenskyy is hoping for concrete commitments for his country to join.
Since the start of Russia’s war of aggression in February 2022, Zelensky has been pushing harder for his country to join NATO. Although almost all states in the North Atlantic alliance are providing military support to the country in its defensive war, the idea of Ukraine’s formal NATO membership remains highly controversial. Selenskyj campaigned for it again on Friday. This is the “best security guarantee for Ukraine,” he stressed. “We are reasonable people and we understand that we will not drag any NATO country into a war,” said the Ukrainian president. “So we understand that we will not be a member of NATO as long as the war goes on. Not because we don’t want to, but because it is impossible.”
Kiev’s NATO accession would mean that Ukraine would fall under the Article 5 NATO alliance case. This provides for a collective response in the event of an “armed attack” on one or more member states. This would result in a direct military confrontation between the US-led alliance and Russia. The two largest nuclear powers in the world have tried to avoid this as far as possible.
In his evening video address, Zelenskyy reported on the meeting with Estonian President Karis. He thanked the latter for military aid and cohesion against Russian aggression, but also for supporting Ukraine’s NATO ambitions.
In view of the ongoing nightly Russian rocket and drone attacks, Zelenskyj again complained about problems with the protective bunkers in the capital Kiev. Citizens complained about the shortage, about locked bunkers and sealed access to them, Zelenskyj criticized in his evening video message published on Friday. In some parts of the city, there were no emergency shelters at all.
“This level of negligence in the city cannot be covered by any justifications,” said Zelenskyy. He instructed the government to take action to improve the situation. After everything that happened in Kiev on Thursday, this state of affairs is intolerable.
Zelenskyi also hinted at a possible state reform in his speech. The Ukrinform news agency reported that he had “several meetings” dealing with the “shaping of our comprehensive policy for the future” and “the further transformation of our state” as well as “our participation in global developments”.
During the night, residents of Kiev stood in front of a locked bunker during an air raid. Three people died after new Russian attacks, including a nine-year-old child. On this occasion, Zelenskyj had already demanded that a sufficient number of bunkers must be accessible everywhere. It is the duty of the municipalities to ensure that the shelters are open around the clock. In Kiev, Mayor Vitali Klitschko ordered the opening and controls after the breakdown on Thursday. According to Zelenskyj, however, there were new problems.
Meanwhile, media in Kiev reported on Friday that criminal proceedings had been initiated against four people responsible for locking access to a bunker at a medical facility. The Kiev prosecutor’s office announced that the condition of the bomb shelters is being checked together with the police. It is also being checked whether funds made available during the war to repair the shelters may have been misappropriated.
In his video, the President of Ukraine also informed about a meeting with his Estonian counterpart Alar Karis, whom he thanked. The Baltic EU and NATO country Estonia also borders Russia. Zelenskyy thanked Karis for supporting Kiev’s bid for NATO. At a joint press conference in Kiev, however, he also said that Ukraine could not become a member of the military alliance as long as it was at war. Zelenskyy also said in his video address that he had spoken with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev about the reconstruction of Ukraine.
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