“We don’t need foreign forces,” said Zelenskiy.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that his country’s chances of NATO membership were getting less and less. “There are concrete reasons,” said Zelenskiy, describing them as “Russia’s resistance and some member states within the Alliance”. Zelenskiy, who said that these countries are not a secret, declined to name names.
Zelenskiy also stated that Russia is applying pressure by increasing the number of its troops on the Ukrainian border. President of Ukraine Zelensky once again expressed his offer of direct talks with Russia.
This demand of Kiev is not met by the Kremlin. Moscow argues that before negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Ukrainian leader must implement the agreements signed between the two countries.
“We don’t need foreign powers”
Zelensky also stated that Ukraine “does not need” foreign forces in the event of a Russian invasion. According to the news on the website of the RBK Ukraine news agency, Zelenskiy stated that these forces will further escalate the tension. Zelenskiy said, “We do not need soldiers with foreign flags in our sovereignty. We do not want this. Otherwise, the whole world will become unstable.”
“We don’t want to give Russia an additional reason that there are foreign bases here and they have to ‘defend’ themselves against it,” said Zelenskiy. “But we want everything else.” By this, Zelensky meant that they were asking their Western allies for money and arms support.
In his statements, US President Joe Biden made it clear that he would not send US troops to Ukraine. Biden also asked US citizens residing in Ukraine to leave the country.
Some NATO countries, such as the UK, have started to withdraw their military personnel from the country, who are on training activities in the Ukrainian army.
AFP, dpa / EC, JD
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