Zelensky: We gave up membership in NATO

According to RCO News Agency, this action represents a fundamental change for Ukraine; The war-torn European country, which has long raised NATO membership as one of the controversial issues in the resolution of the Ukraine crisis. However, Kyiv remains firmly opposed to handing over territory to Moscow.

According to the Reuters News agency, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a conversation with reporters on WhatsApp on Sunday evening: “The security guarantees of the United States, Europe and other partners are a compromise on the part of Ukraine instead of NATO membership.”

“These are real security guarantees, and some partners from the United States and Europe did not support this path,” Zelenskiy said, saying that from the beginning, Ukraine’s desire was to join NATO.

“Therefore, today’s bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the United States, similar Article 5 guarantees to us from the United States, and security guarantees from our European partners as well as other countries, including Canada and Japan, are an opportunity to prevent another Russian attack,” he added.

The President of Ukraine emphasized: “This is a compromise on our part and security guarantees should be legally binding.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly asked Ukraine to officially give up its ambitions to join NATO and withdraw its forces from Donbass.

Moscow has also said that Ukraine must be a “neutral country” and that no NATO forces can be stationed in Ukraine.

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