The President of Ukraine is aware of the US position on restraining our country's accession to NATO, but emphasizes the immutability of strategic goals. Changes in the constitutionally enshrined course for membership in the Alliance are not currently being considered.
He said this at a press conference after attending a meeting of the European Council, the European Pravda reports.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, American opposition to Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic path has long-standing roots. The Head of State emphasized that he had raised the issue of NATO membership directly with former US President Biden to find out the real position of the White House.
"It was before the (full-scale) war. President Biden told me: "No, you will not be in NATO". I came back to this question every time, and it made somebody in the White House smile," he said.
Zelenskyy also made it clear that during these discussions he did not hear any strong arguments against Ukraine joining the Alliance.
"I don't understand if they say to me, 'We are not against it in principle, but you will not be in NATO'. Because it means that someone is against it. And we need to speak frankly about who is against it," he said.
The President did not elaborate in Brussels on Ukraine's previous thesis that russia's interests, which are satisfied by some NATO member states, are behind the blocking of accession. Instead, Zelenskyy focused on the legal side of the issue, emphasizing that the Euro-Atlantic course is a constitutional obligation of the state.
"To be honest, I don't think we need to change the Constitution of our country. Let the Ukrainian people decide what to do with our Constitution, not someone else. Definitely not (it is permissible to make such changes) because of the calls of the Russian Federation or anyone else. This is our Constitution and our course," Zelenskyy explained, expressing confidence that membership in the Alliance remains the best possible option for guaranteeing Ukraine's security.
Zelenskyy added that he expects the American vector towards Ukraine in NATO to change over time.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Lavrov said that the United States allegedly agreed with territorial demands to Ukraine and its accession to NATO.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv does not intend to give up the Donbas and does not recognize the temporarily occupied territories as part of russia either legally or factually.
It was also reported that US President Donald Trump believes that providing Ukraine with security guarantees under Article 5 of NATO could force russian dictator vladimir putin to peace.
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