President Zelensky admits Ukraine was not invited to join NATO
(Baonghean.vn)- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the assumptions that Ukraine could join NATO with only the territories it currently controls are baseless, because no one invited Ukraine to join NATO in this form.
“To be honest, we were not invited to join NATO. Signals about even partial membership are nonsense,” Zelensky said at a press conference on December 19. The Ukrainian president continued that the Kiev government “will never agree that part of Ukraine will join NATO, while the rest controlled by Russia will not join.” He dismissed such information as “fantasy.”
He also admitted that negotiations with Western countries on security guarantees are going "slower than expected", since Ukraine has so far not submitted to its Western partners proposals on the military component of such guarantees.
In addition, President Zelensky announced that Ukraine is expected to receive a number of new Patriot systems to protect its airspace in the winter. “I will not say how many, but a number of new Patriot systems will protect our country this winter. I promise not to disclose their number until they are properly protected,” he said.
Ukraine had previously received one Patriot system from the United States and one from Germany. Berlin later pledged to fund another system. The Russian Defense Ministry said on May 17 that it had launched a strike with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile on May 16, destroying five Patriot launchers and a radar in Kiev. The Pentagon later said the system had been fully repaired.
