Zelensky Warns Skepticism on Ukraine Joining NATO Endangers Other Countries

BOBKA, Moldova (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned European leaders on Sunday that any skepticism before allowing Ukraine to join NATO would make Russia more daring to attack more powerful countries. multi-country.

“We have to keep in mind that any skepticism we show on the European side will be tantamount to A trench that Russia will definitely try to take.”

Ukraine is applying to join NATO and the European Union (EU), as is neighboring Moldova. But some European countries are wary of setting a formal timetable for membership as Russia’s all-out aggression against Ukraine continues.

However, in a speech to more than 40 leaders from countries inside and outside the European Union and NATO on Tuesday, Zelensky warned that delaying the decision to join the two countries would hurt Western power.

Zelensky pointed out that if Ukraine and Moldova’s NATO and EU membership plans do not have a clear path, it will endanger the pro-Western political forces in Russia’s neighboring Belarus and Georgia.

“Whether these doubts are about major security steps, or about our solidarity, or about our ability to meet contemporary challenges, all doubts create more insecurity,” he said.

NATO also held an informal meeting of foreign ministers yesterday and today in the Norwegian capital of Oslo to discuss the level of commitment or security guarantees that Ukraine might give at a NATO summit in July.

“I would like to emphasize at this summer’s NATO summit in Vilnius[the capital of Lithuania]the need for a clear invitation to join NATO, the need for security guarantees along the way before joining NATO,” Zelensky said. Expressed their desire to see a clear invitation to join the EU.

“Recently a Chinese journalist asked me: ‘Why join NATO?’ The answer is very simple: when there is no guarantee of security, there is a guarantee of war,” Zelensky said.

“We need a just peace. That’s why every European country that borders Russia, and every European country that doesn’t want to be torn apart by Russia, should be a full member of the EU and NATO,” he said.

“If it doesn’t, there are only two outcomes: either it goes to war, or it gets eaten away by Russia.”