Desk Report
Publish: 16 Mar 2022, 11:03 pm
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson || Photo: Collected
British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson on Wednesday ruled out any possibility of Ukraine joining NATO in the
near future, saying that the eastern European country won't become a member of
the transatlantic alliance "any time soon."
Johnson told reporters that he
spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday about NATO and the
"reality of the position."
"And everybody's always said
and we made it clear to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, there's no way
Ukraine is going to join NATO any time soon," Johnson said amid Russia's
nearly three-week attack on Ukraine.
Johnson added, "But the
decision about the future of Ukraine has got to be for the Ukrainian people and
for Volodymyr Zelenskyy as their elected leader, and we will back him."
"And the most important
thing is that Putin's aggression, his absolutely barbaric attacks on Ukraine,
should stop and they should not be seen to have succeeded and they won't
succeed," Johnson said.
Zelenskyy on Tuesday said his
country "must admit" that it wouldn't join NATO.
"It is clear that Ukraine is
not a member of NATO. We understand that. We are adequate people,"
Zelenskyy said in a meeting with leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force.
"For years, we have heard
about the supposedly open door, but we have also heard that we should not
enter, and this is true and we must admit it," he said of Ukraine's bid to
join NATO, which was launched back in 2008.
But Zelenskyy said that security
guarantees from NATO allies would be imperative to keep Ukraine safe amid Russia's
invasion of the country.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly called
on NATO allies to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine and echoed those remarks
during a virtual Wednesday morning address to US Congress._Reuters
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