Ukraine Insists on Joining NATO

On the eve of the NATO summit, Ukraine is increasing diplomatic pressure on Western countries in order to achieve membership in the alliance. "Membership was promised," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba. On the eve of the NATO summit, which will be held on June 14 at the headquarters of the alliance in Brussels, the highest officials of Ukraine declare the demand of Kiev to include the country among the members of the military bloc. "Membership was promised to Ukraine in 2008. Since then, NATO has done nothing to fulfill this promise," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt, published on Sunday, June 13. At the same time, according to Kuleba, the Ukrainian authorities are aware that the path to NATO may take time, but this process must be launched as soon as possible. Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak made a similar statement in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "We believe that our partners will reach a consensus on our NATO membership as soon as possible. The future of Ukraine depends on them. As our president said, we are now in danger and we need help," Yermak stressed. Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself has repeatedly stated that he considers the country's membership in NATO to be the only way to resolve the military conflict in Donbass. “We are committed to reforming our army and defense sector, but reforms alone cannot stop Russia,” Zelenskiy said in April during a conversation with Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.