Zelenskiy to discuss Ukraine’s NATO membership with Biden
- 9 December, 13:01
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he will discuss his country’s NATO membership with the outgoing US President Joe Biden in coming days. Zelenskiy made the remarks during the meeting with the visiting German opposition leader Friedrich Merz in Kyiv on Monday.
“I intend to call President Biden in the coming time to discuss the question of an invitation to join NATO. He is the current president and a lot rides on his opinion. Discussing it with Trump before he takes office doesn’t make so much sense,” the Ukrainian leader stated.
Elsewhere in his speech, the Ukrainian leader floated the idea of foreign troops’ stationing in his country.
"A troop contingent from one country or another could be present in Ukraine for as long as it isn't part of Nato. But for that we need to have a clear understanding of when Ukraine becomes an EU member and when a Nato member," he said. Commenting on French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial proposal in February about European countries sending troops to Ukraine, Zelenskiy said: "Even if we get invited [to Nato], what happens then? Who guarantees our security? We can think about that and work on Emmanuel Macron's proposal," Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy earlier stipulated his country’s NATO accession as one of the conditions for ending the “hot phase” of the nearly three years of war with Russia.
After Russia full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv requested to be admitted the western military alliance in response to Russia’s aggression. The Kremlin has condemned Ukraine’s possible integration into the NATO that has 32 members.
Zelenskiy’s recent remarks comes after US president-elect Donald Trump wrote on social media on Sunday that Ukraine and Russia must reach an immediate ceasefire to end the three-year-old war.
