Ukraine Hopes for NATO Membership Recommendation and Progress in EU Accession Talks

Ukraine would like to receive a recommendation from NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on 3 December to invite it to join the Alliance. It is also absolutely possible to open two negotiation clusters with the EU early next year.

This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a briefing following a meeting with President of the European Council Antonio Costa, Ukrinform reports.

‘They (international partners - ed.) know our position. We would like recommendations from foreign ministers, but there are no illusions. There are the same ‘sceptical’ countries, and the United States is currently on (this) list... I don't know if the current US President will recommend it, but I know the vision of... Secretary of State Blinken - he is more positive. But there is also the German side, the Hungarian side... Only a consolidated signal can be positively received by all leaders,’ Zelenskyy stressed.

At the same time, he noted that this would not be the last opportunity to resolve this issue.

‘In any case, we can count on the next steps if there is political will. The current government in the United States has 2 months, and they have an impact on the few European sceptics about our future... I personally do not see - and most NATO countries do not see - any risks from a recommendation for a positive future membership of Ukraine in NATO. It's not even an invitation, it's a recommendation of foreign ministers to leaders on the future invitation of Ukraine to NATO,’ Zelenskyy stressed.

The President of Ukraine added that a just peace is impossible without Ukraine's European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

‘Next year, we must do as much as possible to advance in negotiations with the European Union. It is absolutely realistic to open two negotiation clusters at the beginning of next year and the rest of the negotiation clusters during the year. We want this very much, and it is also absolutely possible to ensure Ukraine's gradual integration into the European Union's internal market in parallel with the negotiation process,’ Zelenskyy said.

He emphasised that real security is impossible without geopolitical certainty and thanked all countries and leaders who support Ukraine's work on negotiations with the European Union on Ukraine's accession and on Ukraine's invitation to NATO. 

‘Geopolitical certainty for Ukraine can be the biggest anti-war step,’ the President of Ukraine said.

As reported, a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council is scheduled for 3 December, when a meeting at the level of NATO foreign ministers will take place in Brussels.

Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga believes that Ukraine's invitation to join the North Atlantic Alliance should be extended without delay, and that Ukraine's membership in NATO will only become a fixation of reality.