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President Volodymyr Zelensky feels it is impossible for Ukraine to join NATO while it is at war with Russia. Photo/REUTERS
KYIV – President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday (2/6/2023) that he knows it is impossible for Ukraine to join NATO as long as Russia doesn’t stop the war.
The Ukrainian president has been pushing for Ukraine to become a member of the military alliance, but allies are divided on how soon this should happen.
Western governments are wary of any move that might bring the alliance closer to war with Russia.
At a joint briefing in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with Estonian President Alar Karis, Zelensky said joining the alliance was still Kyiv’s best security guarantee.
“But we are adequate people and understand that we are not going to draw any NATO country into the war,” Zelensky said, as quoted by Reuters.
“And that’s why we understand that we are not going to be a member of NATO while this war is going on. Not because we don’t want to, because it’s impossible.”
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said many European countries were aware of the problems that would arise if Ukraine joined NATO, but that it was the United States that was “governing” the alliance.
Asked at a regular press briefing about Ukraine’s push to join a Western military alliance, Peskov said Kyiv’s ambition to join NATO underlined the reluctance to settle issues at the negotiating table.
Peskov added that Ukraine’s membership in NATO would pose problems for years to come and that Russia would protect its own security and interests.
(but)
