Zelensky: Ukraine Has Given Up on NATO Membership Bid

Tehran - BORNA - This move represents a fundamental shift for Ukraine, the European country that has long raised NATO membership as one of the controversial issues in resolving the crisis. However, Kyiv remains resolute against ceding territory to Moscow.

Reuters reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in a WhatsApp conversation late on Sunday: "Security guarantees from the United States, Europe, and other partners, instead of NATO membership, are a compromise on the part of Ukraine."

Zelensky stated that from the beginning, Ukraine's desire was to join NATO, but he said: "These are real security guarantees, and some partners from the United States and Europe did not support this path."

He added: "Therefore, today, bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the United States, similar Article 5 guarantees for us from the United States, and security guarantees from European colleagues, as well as other countries including Canada and Japan, are an opportunity to prevent another Russian attack."

The Ukrainian President emphasized: "This is a compromise on our part, and the security guarantees must be legally binding."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly called on Ukraine to formally abandon its ambitions to join NATO and withdraw its forces from Donbas. Moscow has also stated that Ukraine must be a "neutral country" and that no NATO forces can be stationed in Ukraine.

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