‘Say openly you’re scared of Russia’: Volodymyr Zelensky slams NATO

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was “afraid’ of Russia, as it continued its invasion on Ukraine, showing no signs of abating.

“NATO should either say now that they’re accepting us, or openly say that they are not accepting us as they are scared of Russia, which is true,” The Kyiv Independent quoted Zelensky as saying, in an interview to Suspilne, a Ukrainian public broadcaster.

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“And then, we need to calm down and say, okay, NATO member countries can provide us security guarantees without us being in NATO. That’s where the compromise exists, that’s where the end of the war is,” Zelensky further added.

Ukraine wanting to be a NATO member is said to be one of the reasons which led to Russian President Vladimir Putin authorising the invasion, which he described as a “special military operation”.

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However, Zelensky, in recent days, seems to have accepted that his country will not be a member of the military alliance.

Earlier, speaking to ABC News, Zelensky said, “I have cooled down on this question (joining NATO) a long time ago after realising that it is not prepared to accept Ukraine. The alliance is afraid of controversial things, and confrontation with Russia.”

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Meanwhile, in his interview with Suspilne, the actor-turned-politician also spoke about Ukraine rejecting Russia’s ‘ultimatum’ to surrender Mariupol. “We can’t accept an ultimatum. How can we? After our people were killed…it’s simply possible,” he remarked.

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The only way for Russia to capture a Ukrainian city, Zelenskyy said, is possible only by killing everyone.