President Volodymyr Zelensky doubts the feasibility of the North Atlantic Alliance extending security guarantees to a portion of Ukraine’s territory.
Source: Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a press conference in Kyiv, European Pravda reports
Details:
The head of state underscored that Ukraine’s complete integration into the Alliance is optimal for ensuring the nation’s security.
“Despite that, we haven’t received any invitations to join NATO,” he remarked.
Zelenskyy highlighted that Kyiv has not received any official proposals from its partners regarding Ukraine’s potential “partial accession” to the Alliance. However, he expressed skepticism towards such notions despite their circulation in discussions.
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“Talks of partial involvement with the Alliance are unfounded, without any offense to those proposing it,” the president remarked.
The concept of Ukraine securing “partial NATO membership” has been advocated by former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Nevertheless, Zelenskyy dismisses this proposition as impractical, stating, “It is challenging to envision how this could materialize.”
Specifically, the President mentioned that such a scenario could escalate into a direct conflict between Russia and NATO, given Russia’s unwavering statements about its ongoing objective to assert control over Ukraine.
Quote from Zelenskyy: “Let’s imagine that part of Ukraine is in NATO. This is high-risk… It means that he [Putin – ed.] will attack, and there will be a war with NATO.”
Details: The President pointed out that if Ukraine were to have “partial accession” to the Alliance, it would also bring up the question of how to address the situation concerning the occupied territories.
“We will not recognize part of our territory as Russian,” Zelenskyy said.
