President Zelensky suggests at least inviting Ukraine to NATO
President Zelensky suggested that there should be at least an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO from the alliance member states.
According to TASS news agency, at a press conference after talks with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on October 9, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked allies to at least invite Ukraine to join NATO, and emphasized that this step does not mean becoming a NATO member.
“We want to make the first step – an invitation. An invitation to the alliance is not NATO membership. Yes, it would be better to be a NATO member. But we are talking about strengthening Ukraine’s position now, not after the conflict. Not in 10 years, not in 30 years. This is an opportunity to strengthen, this is an opportunity to become politically strong, to be significant in certain negotiations in the future,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Mr. Zelensky, Kiev understands that there are countries that are still skeptical about Ukraine joining NATO.
“We understand them, that is why we are talking about invitations. So I really do not want a diplomatic assessment from the member states, but a real response so that the states support our proposal. The invitation is part of the accession proposals,” President Zelensky believes.
In July 2023, at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Latvia, Ukrainian President Zelensky expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of intention to make a specific decision on when to invite Kiev to join NATO. Western media reported that US officials and other NATO leaders were angry with the Ukrainian president's statements.
Kiev has repeatedly expressed its desire to become a full member of the alliance as soon as possible. In September 2022, Ukraine submitted an “expedited” application for NATO membership. NATO standards are being applied in the country’s armed forces, and officers are planned to be required to speak fluent English. At the same time, NATO has repeatedly stressed that Ukraine’s accession to the alliance is impossible while the country is in a state of conflict.
