Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that his country will not be joining NATO, which was one of the demands made by Russia before it invaded.
According to a translation of his comments made via video link at a meeting of the leaders of the U.K. Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) in London on Tuesday morning, March 15, Zelensky stated that they would not be joint NATO.
“For years we’ve heard the opposite, open doors, However, it is not,” he said according to Ukrainian news outlet, Trukha.
“Our people understand this, and we are beginning to count on our own strength,” he added.
Media outlet Nexta quoted Zelensky as saying: “We realized that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO. We understand this, we are adequate people.
“Kyiv needs new formats of interaction with the West and separate security guarantees.”
This outburst from Zelensky seems to be coming after NATO’s refusal to order a no-fly zone in his country.
A few weeks back, Zelensky, in a video, condemned NATO’s decision for refusing the no-fly-zone order on the grounds of causing more casualties in the war.
He said: “Knowing that new strikes and casualties are inevitable, NATO deliberately decided not to close the sky over Ukraine.
“We believe that the NATO countries themselves have created a narrative that the closing of the skies over Ukraine would provoke direct Russian aggression against NATO.”
This article was originally published on Nigeria News