President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said that if Ukraine was a member of the NATO, Russia wouldn’t have invaded. The Servant of the People party member further added that he was grateful for the aid the Western bloc had provided since Moscow attacked Kyiv last month. 

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Zelensky said that he would like to receive security guarantees for Ukraine. 

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“If we were a NATO member, a war wouldn’t have started. I’d like to receive security guarantees for my country, for my people,” Zelensky told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.

“If NATO members are ready to see us in the alliance, then do it immediately because people are dying on a daily basis.”

The comedian-actor turner politician further added that he personally made a request to be inducted into the NATO. 

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“But if you are not ready to preserve the lives of our people, if you just want to see us straddle two worlds, if you want to see us in this dubious position where we don’t understand whether you can accept us or not — you cannot place us in this situation, you cannot force us to be in this limbo.”

“I requested them personally to say directly that we are going to accept you into NATO in a year or two or five, just say it directly and clearly, or just say no,” Zelensky said. “And the response was very clear, you’re not going to be a NATO member, but publicly, the doors will remain open,” Zelensky added. 

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Zelensky further questioned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims that the Ukrainian government is full of neo-Nazis.

“I’m not afraid of anything except for people, but the fact — the fact is that if he is serious about this statement he might be capable of very horrendous steps because that would mean that this is not a game for him. If he really believes in this, if it’s not a game, then we will just continue fighting against it. If it’s a game. But if it’s not a game, if he’s serious about it, if he thinks that this is his mission to conquer our territory and if he sees signs of neo-Nazis in our country, then many questions emerge about what else he is capable of doing for the sake of his ambitions, for the sake of his mission,” he said.