Washington. The Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, revealed yesterday that he no longer insists that Ukraine join NATO, one of the issues used by Russia to invade his country, in an interview broadcast by the American channel ABC.
And, in another apparent gesture of openness to Moscow’s demands, Zelensky affirms that he is willing to reach a “compromise” on the status of the separatist territories in eastern Ukraine, whose independence was unilaterally recognized by Russian President Vladimir Putin just before to launch the war in February.
“Regarding NATO, I moderated my position on this issue some time ago, when we understood” that the Atlantic Alliance “is not ready to accept Ukraine,” he said in this interview broadcast on Monday night.
“The Alliance is afraid of anything controversial and of a confrontation with Russia,” he lamented.
Zelenski added that he does not want to be the president of a “country that begs on its knees” to join the organization.
Russia demands guarantees that Kiev will never join NATO.
The Kremlin considers this enlargement and the military positions of the Western Allies near the Russian borders to be threatening.
Shortly before the invasion, Putin recognized two pro-Russian breakaway “republics” in eastern Ukraine that had been at war with Kiev since 2014. He is now demanding that Ukraine recognize his independence.
On this issue, President Zelenski told ABC that he is open to dialogue.
“I am talking about security guarantees. I think that when it comes to these temporarily occupied territories (…) that have only been recognized by Russia (…) we can discuss and find a compromise on the future of these territories,” he explained.
“The important thing for me is how the people who are in these territories and who want to be part of Ukraine are going to live,” he added.