President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the country deserved to “leave the waiting room” of the EU and NATO. He stated this on April 15 in an interview with the Figaro newspaper.
“We cannot stay in the EU and NATO waiting room indefinitely. Ukraine has long deserved to get out of there. It’s time to speed up the pace, invite us to join the EU and NATO, because we don’t want us to have to beg. Not only would this be fair, it is also what the citizens of Ukraine are calling for, ”the Ukrainian leader said.
He noted that he hopes that France will support these aspirations.
On April 12, Zelenskiy asked US President Joe Biden to help Ukraine join NATO. According to him, the country needs financial support, as well as more weapons “to strengthen the confrontation with Russia.” Also a few days earlier, Zelenskiy assured that membership in the alliance is supposedly the only way to end the conflict in Donbass.
Commenting on his statement, the press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov said that Ukraine’s entry into the alliance, on the contrary, could aggravate the situation in eastern Ukraine.
On April 13, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance is on the side of Kiev, the allies are supporting Ukraine so that in the future it can independently ensure its security.
On the same day, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that the country’s membership in NATO is a matter of time.
In February 2019, the Ukrainian parliament adopted changes to the constitution, securing the country’s course towards NATO and the EU. Ukraine has become the sixth state to receive NATO Enhanced Partner status.