Zelenskyi Presses NATO on Membership for Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyi called for a clear plan and security guarantees for Ukraine during the Summit of the European Political Community. The appeal to world leaders was made as part of a broad discussion on the likelihood of granting Ukraine NATO membership during the upcoming NATO summit in July this year.

"At the NATO summit, there should be a clear path to membership and security guarantees should be approved, and in the autumn, negotiations should also begin at the EU," the President said.

Zelenskyi's speech comes amid some disagreement among NATO members about how quickly Ukraine can gain membership. Such discussions have been sparked by some countries' fears of a potential "escalation" due to a possible direct clash between NATO and Russia.

Instead, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that "all NATO allies agree that it's not for Moscow to have a veto against NATO enlargement."

"We are moving, allies agree that Ukraine will become a member," he said during the NATO Foreign Ministers' Summit in Oslo.

Zelenskyi held talks with his Moldovan counterpart Maia Sandu, discussing bilateral relations and the countries' joint movement toward joining the European Union.

"We talked about our European future. Today, Ukraine ensures the security of Moldova, and we are very grateful for this," Sandu said.

At the same time, the President of Ukraine named several other important steps that Western partners can take to help Ukraine: ensuring full protection from Russian terror, both on the ground and in the sky; providing Ukraine with new aircraft and additional air defense systems; and identifying all manifestations of Russian aggression not only in Ukraine but also abroad;

This is the second summit of the European Political Community (EPC). The first group met last year in Prague. It was initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron, bringing together members of the European Union with its neighbors on the continent on an equal footing. This year, 50 European leaders gathered on the sidelines of the summit.