Ukraine no longer insisting for NATO membership: President Zelensky

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday night (EST) said that the war-torn country is not pressing for a NATO membership. The Eastern European country’s push for a place in the alliance was one of Russia’s reasons for invading it. 

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Zelensky, speaking on ABC News, said that Kyiv is open to compromise on the status of Donbas, the two pro-Russian territories. President Vladimir Putin had recognized the regions as independent. 

“I have cooled down regarding this question a long time ago after we understood that. NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine. The alliance is afraid of controversial things, and confrontation with Russia,” Zelensky said. 

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Ukraine had urged NATO to impose a no-fly zone. However, US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said that the alliance will not proceed with the restriction. 

Zelensky added that he does not want to be president of a “country which is begging something on its knees.”

Putin asked Ukraine to recognise Donbas as sovereign and independent. Talking aboyt the issue, the Ukraine President said, “I’m talking about security guarantees. “

“What is important to me is how the people in those territories are going to live who want to be part of Ukraine, who in Ukraine will say that they want to have them in,” Zelensky said.

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“So the question is more difficult than simply acknowledging them,” the president said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday said that it is the alliance’s responsibility to ensure the Russia-Ukraine conflict doesn’t spread beyond Ukraine. He made the statement as two million people have been forced to flee the country as Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II grows even more severe.