Zelenskyy calls on NATO to stop looking at Kremlin while deciding on Ukraine’s membership

Kyiv, Jun 28 (EFE).- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday called on NATO member countries to stop looking at the Kremlin, when deciding on Ukraine’s accession into the western alliance.

Zelenskyy, during an address before the Ukrainian parliament on the occasion of Constitution Day. said Ukraine’s accession into NATO would be a powerful signal to the world that this is an alliance that protects and will continue to protect.

He said that no one doubts that Ukraine is capable of defending itself and its allies.

It is important that all partners in the alliance stop looking at the Kremlin while making important decisions, he stressed.

The president said the recent mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group in Russia showed the weakness of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and it was “absurd” for NATO members to look towards “an incompetent leader” of “an incompetent state.”

Ukraine hopes that during NATO’s July 11-12 summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, will provide guarantees of Ukraine’s accession into the alliance as a full member once the war with Russia ends.

With two weeks to go for the Vilnius summit, Lithuania and Poland expressed Wednesday their support for Ukraine joining the alliance after the war.

“Glad to be in Kyiv to mark Ukraine’s Constitution Day,” tweeted Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, who arrived in Kyiv by train. “(Ukraine) belongs in European family. We must start EU membership negotiations already this year.”

Nauseda was later joined by Polish President Andrzej Duda, who also expressed support for Ukraine, and said preparations for the NATO summit was among the priorities of his visit. EFE

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