Kyiv: President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said that Kyiv is requesting fast-track NATO membership after Russia formally annexed four Moscow-held regions of Ukraine.
Zelensky’s comments come soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin held a ceremony in Moscow to proclaim four partially occupied Ukrainian regions as annexed Russian land.
The Ukraine President also added that Kyiv is ready for talks with Moscow, but not with President Vladimir Putin.
The video showed Zelensky announcing the decision and then signing a document flanked by his prime minister and the speaker of parliament.
“We have already proven our compatibility with Alliance standards… We are taking a decisive step by signing Ukraine’s application for accelerated accession to NATO,” Zelensky said in a video posted by the Ukrainian presidency on social media.
Zelensky also warned that he would not negotiate with Russia as long as President Vladimir Putin is in power. “Ukraine will not hold any negotiations with Russia as long as Putin is the president of the Russian Federation. We will negotiate with the new president,” Zelensky said.“We are taking our decisive step by signing Ukraine’s application for accelerated accession to Nato,” Zelensky said in a video.
Putin said in a lengthy speech declaring the annexation of Ukrainian territories in the St George’s Hall at a Kremlin ceremony; “There are four new regions of Russia.”
The European Union also reportedly responded to Putin’s latest step with a joint statement rejecting and condemning “the illegal annexation” of the four regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
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