Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Highlights
- Vladimir Putin had on February 24 announced a special military operation in Ukraine
- He has blamed the US for threatening Russia by enlarging the NATO military alliance eastwards
- NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance of 30 countries including the US
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was ‘afraid’ of Russia. He said that NATO -- an intergovernmental military alliance of 30 countries including the US, should either say that 'they are accepting us' or 'not accepting us'.
“NATO should either say now that they are accepting us, or openly say that they are not accepting us as they are scared of Russia, which is true,” The Kyiv Independent quoted Zelensky as saying on Monday as the Kremlin's invasion of Kyiv continued on 27th day.
“And then, we need to calm down and say, okay, NATO member countries can provide us security guarantees without us being in NATO. That’s where the compromise exists, that’s where the end of the war is,” he added.
Ukraine's ambition to join NATO is believed to be one of the factors that led Russian President Vladimir Putin to order a military operation in Ukraine last month to demilitarize it.
Earlier, Zelensky had said that Kyiv is no longer pressing for NATO membership for Ukraine.
“I have cooled down on this question (joining NATO) a long time ago after realising that it is not prepared to accept Ukraine. The alliance is afraid of controversial things, and confrontation with Russia,” he had said earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Russia has said that it was too early to discuss a meeting between Putin and Zelensky as there was no breakthrough yet in the peace talks over the ongoing Moscow-Kiev war.
"To be able to discuss a possible meeting between the two Presidents, you must first do your homework. That is, you need to conduct and agree on the results of the negotiations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"So far, no significant progress has been made (in the negotiation process)... The Presidents simply have no agreements to approve yet," he said.
Ukrainian and Russian delegations have since February 28 held three rounds of in-person negotiations in Belarus to seek a possible end to the war. The two sides started their fourth round of negotiations via video link on March 14.
Last week, Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak had said that Zelensky may hold talks with Putin in the coming days.
READ MORE: India 'somewhat shaky' among major US allies on punishing Russia: Biden
