The United States is not ready to invite Ukraine to join NATO today, President Volodymyr Zelensky was quoted as saying by the Kyiv Independent.
"The US is talking about this openly. President (Joe) Biden talks about it. And (Donald) Trump says that if it wasn't for NATO, the war might not have started," Zelensky said.
"We hear both sides' opinions. And this suggests that nobody sees Ukraine in NATO today. Unfortunately."
Ukraine expressed hope that the NATO summit in July in Washington would bring a more definitive signal on Ukraine's future membership in the alliance. U.S. officials have made it clear that the country is unlikely to receive an invitation.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said earlier that Ukraine must win the war with Russia before becoming a NATO member.
"It's a so-called one-step-forward, two-steps-back policy." I don't think this is the policy of world leaders," Zelensky said.
"If America is afraid of irritating (Vladimir) Putin and that's why we are not invited, then we are asking the United States to give us as much as it can that can protect us (from Russian aggression)."
Zelensky stressed that Ukraine desperately needs Patriot air defence systems and F-16 fighter jets to defend itself from Russia.
At the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Italy, Kiev and Washington signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement that is said to be a "bridge to Ukraine's eventual NATO membership."
Unlike NATO, the U.S.-Ukraine security agreement does not require a U.S. military response if Ukraine is attacked, but outlines long-term defense and other assistance to Kiev. | BGNES
