The North Atlantic Alliance must resolve the issue of admitting Ukraine to its membership immediately.

This was stated by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with the American news portal Axios.

“If NATO is waiting for us, if they really want us to join the alliance, then there is no need to look through binoculars and discuss some distant future.

The issue must be resolved immediately.

We are facing a threat right now, our independence is at stake right now - and we need help right now, ”the Ukrainian leader emphasized.

According to Zelenskiy, the "real signal" would be the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP).

“The Membership Action Plan is a message, a direct message.

Let not membership itself, but still a real vision of Ukraine as part of NATO in the foreseeable future, ”the politician added.

  • © REUTERS / Gleb Garanich

At the same time, according to Zelensky, "very wrong things" are happening now.

“The fact is that, for all my conviction that Ukraine will eventually join NATO, I must note that many Ukrainians are losing faith in this.

This, in my opinion, is a big problem, ”he stressed.

A sociological survey conducted in April by the Ukrainian Institute for the Future (UIF) showed that 43% of Ukrainians support the idea of ​​the country's joining NATO.

At the same time, 37% of respondents doubt that this will happen in the coming years.

Let us remind you that cooperation between Kiev and NATO began in the 1990s, when Ukraine joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council and entered the Partnership for Peace program.

Then the NATO-Ukraine Commission (NUC) was created.

The principal decision of the member countries of the alliance on the possible admission of Ukraine to the bloc was made in 2008.

Since then, however, Kiev has not been able to move far towards NATO membership, although after the coup d'etat in 2014, this desire was even enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine.

The basic law was amended in 2019.

The only step towards membership for Ukraine in recent years has been granting it the status of a member of the NATO Expanded Opportunities Partnership in 2020.

Kiev hoped that the alliance would soon provide the Ukrainian side with the MAP.

Ukrainian officials even hoped that such a decision could be made at the NATO summit in June 2021.

However, the partners made it clear to Kiev that it was too early to talk about this.

For now, Ukraine will have to be content with the fact that it will be the first of the alliance partner countries to be provided with an updated package of partnership goals until 2025.

This was reported at the end of May by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. 

Kiev is not moving along the path of European integration either.

Although it was precisely the signing of an association agreement with the EU that was one of the main requirements of the "Euromaidan".

Ukraine still cannot freely trade with European countries: trade turnover is limited by quotas.

Ukraine's accession to the EU as a full-fledged member is out of the question.  

As Boris Mezhuev, associate professor of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, noted in an interview with RT, Kiev's demanding tone in relation to the West is explained by the fact that at one time it was Western partners who pushed Ukraine towards its current path.

“Kiev has some moral grounds to ask for help from the West, which earlier prompted the Ukrainians to a coup d'etat, which later grew into a conflict in the southeast of the country.

Now Zelensky is making claims to Biden, who was directly related to the events of 2014.

However, these conversations do not make any impression on the White House, the American authorities are guided by political realism, ”the expert said.

According to Mezhuev, the United States is interested in relations with Ukraine only in the context of the confrontation with Russia.

“Zelensky, realizing that in this game he occupies a losing position, is trying to fix this with the help of loud statements,” the expert added.

Deficit of dialogues

In an interview with Axios, Volodymyr Zelenskyy also touched on the topic of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, calling it “a weapon in the hands of the Russian Federation”.

“And, in my opinion, it is not very clear and certainly unexpected is the possibility that such a great country as the United States will provide“ ammunition ”for these weapons.

Because this is an exemplary civilization, an exemplary democracy of the world.

I have always believed that in Europe, Ukraine defends the same principles, ”Zelensky said.

We will remind, earlier in the American State Department it was reported that "it is in the national interests of the United States to refrain from applying sanctions against Nord Stream 2 AG, its managing director Matthias Warnig and officials of Nord Stream 2 AG."

However, on June 7, the head of the State Department, Anthony Blinken, said that Washington could withdraw the exemption from sanctions for the company - the pipeline operator.

  • © REUTERS / Maxim Shemetov

At the same time, the United States imposed sanctions against 13 vessels participating in the laying of the gas pipeline, as well as against the enterprises of the FSBI Marine Rescue Service, LLC Mortransservice and JSC Samara Heat and Power Property Fund.

The Ukrainian side is also dissatisfied with the fact that the head of the White House, Joe Biden, has not yet met with Vladimir Zelensky.

According to the Ukrainian leader, if Biden does not speak with him before the summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, it would be a mistake.

The Ukrainian president said this when answering the question whether his American counterpart consulted with him.

"Not yet.

And it's up to the other side to decide.

However, in my opinion, not doing this (not consulting. -

RT

) would be a big mistake, "Zelensky said.

He also spoke about why the American president is meeting with Vladimir Putin before direct talks with the Ukrainian leadership.

“I think this is ... (pause) I think this is not a message, but ... (pause) This is essentially an answer and a geopolitical vision: there are empires, there are great world powers, and there are all the rest ", - quotes the words of Zelensky Axios.

Note: the Axios portal, citing a source in the White House, said that the Biden administration changed their minds to invite Vladimir Zelensky to a meeting in Washington before the talks between the presidents of the United States and Russia.

Initially, the White House considered this option, but allegedly abandoned this idea due to Zelensky's decision to change the leadership of the state energy company Naftogaz.

In the United States, this step was regarded as a refusal to fight corruption, the portal reports.

At the same time, earlier about the plans of Vladimir Zelensky to hold talks with the head of the White House, Joe Biden, before his meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported.

“The meeting between Putin and Biden will be preceded by contacts between our president and the American president.

We are carefully preparing both the agenda and the coordination of all logistical aspects of these contacts, ”Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Yevhen Yenin said on the air of the Ukraine 24 TV channel at the end of May. 

Kiev fails to organize negotiations with Zelensky not only with the American leader, but also with the Russian one.

In the office of the Ukrainian president, preparations for the meeting were previously announced, but it has not yet taken place. 

As the press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov said on June 4, there is no certainty about the conduct of such negotiations.

  • Dmitry Peskov

  • Reuters

  • © Sputnik / Alexei Nikolsky / Kremlin

“You all know the proposals that the president made to Mr. Zelensky.

You all know the answers of Mr. Zelensky.

We have not yet received any very specific business proposals on the agenda of such a potential meeting through the office of the President of Ukraine, ”RIA Novosti quotes Peskov. 

According to Oleg Nemensky, a leading researcher at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, the Ukrainian leader himself created a situation in which the heads of major powers avoid meetings with him.

“For example, what is the value of Zelensky’s statement that Ukraine must be urgently admitted to NATO, and at the same time demonstrating resentment toward the West.

This shows that Kiev does not adequately assess the balance of power and interests in the world.

At the same time, Zelensky behaves in this way not only during communication with journalists, but also during negotiations with other leaders.

It is unlikely that you can agree on something seriously with him.

So for now, neither Putin nor Biden has anything to talk about with the Ukrainian president, "the expert noted in a commentary on RT.

Infantile attitude

Commenting on the overall political situation, Zelensky stated that although Ukraine needs help, the country should still learn to rely on itself.

“Based on what is happening, I will say that we really need help, but at the same time, we must understand ... remembering the issue of Nord Stream you raised, as well as the fact that we have been waiting for thirteen years and hear promises on NATO ... that Ukraine needs to become an (independent) actor, Ukraine needs to rely not only on its partners, Ukraine needs to learn to rely on itself, ”the Ukrainian leader emphasized.

  • Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin

  • © REUTERS / Alexander Natruskin

Experts agree with this assessment, but doubt that Ukraine will be able to get rid of the “pleading” tone in relations with the West.

“Nationalist sentiments are strong in Ukraine, and dependency and infantilism have always been inherent in Ukrainian nationalism. Nationalists perceive themselves as the vanguard of the West in the fight against Russia and believe that they are entitled to a reward for this. However, this construction, which lives in the heads of Ukrainians, is absent in international relations. And when Kiev is faced with the fact that life is not arranged the way Ukrainians would like, it takes an infantile offended position. At the same time, with constant demands and requests, Ukraine only worsens the attitude of the West towards itself, ”concluded Oleg Nemensky.