The President of Ukraine addressed the candidates for the post of Chancellor of Germany with questions about Kiev's membership in NATO and the EU.

This was reported on the official website of the office of Vladimir Zelensky.

“Do you agree that the European project will not be complete and full-fledged without Ukraine?

Do you agree that Ukraine's path to Europe should be a two-way road?

Seven years have passed since the "revolution of dignity", when hundreds of Ukrainians gave their lives for the European choice.

Isn't Europe tired of hiding for so long from the question of Ukraine's membership in the EU?

And isn't it time to move from diplomatic avoidance to clear answers, conditions, steps and deadlines? "

Zelensky asked in his video message.

Speaking about Ukraine's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance, the president said about “100 thousand Russian troops” who are allegedly pulled up to the Ukrainian borders.

According to him, all European leaders support the provision of security guarantees to the country, but it is not a member of the bloc.

"If we are not in NATO, what kind of guarantees are we talking about?"

- Zelensky clarified.

The address of the Ukrainian leader did not go unnoticed by Western politicians.

Thus, the candidates for chancellor of the FRG - the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Armin Laschet and the Vice-Chancellor, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz - replied that they could not shed light on the prospects for Ukraine's accession to the EU and NATO.

“This can be frivolously promised.

However, the reality looks different, ”Laschet said.

According to him, Kiev needs to ensure that the same legal norms apply in eastern Ukraine as in Western Europe.

Olaf Scholz, in turn, said that Ukraine's membership in the North Atlantic Alliance has not yet been discussed.

"Certain legal restrictions"

We will remind, earlier the German Ambassador to Ukraine Anka Feldgusen in an interview with the "Mirror of the Week" said that Kiev will not join NATO in the near future.

According to her, the bloc has always had problems with countries on whose territory there is a war.

“Because one of the advantages of NATO is Article 5 of the Washington Treaty (an article on collective defense, which stipulates that in the event of an attack on one of the members of the alliance, all allies will defend it. -

RT

).

And everyone is afraid to be in a direct war with Russia, ”RIA Novosti Feldguzen is quoted as saying.

  • Flags of NATO and Ukraine

  • RIA News

  • © Mikhail Markiv

Moscow responded to Zelensky's appeal to Brussels and the words of the German diplomat.

Thus, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, recalled that it was the countries of the alliance that, by their actions, brought Ukraine “to a complete loss of sovereignty and a state of half-life, blew out state administration, pitted Ukrainians against each other and against their own history, and now they remembered what they have some legal restrictions "on joining the organization.

"It was necessary to remember about the right and ethics when they placed their special services in the ministries and departments of Ukraine, modeled and sponsored" Maidans ", trained militants," Zakharova wrote in her Telegram channel.

She also stressed that the statement of the German ambassador in Kiev about the "fear" of NATO countries before a possible war with Russia indicates a significant difference between the political outlook of the Russian Federation and the ideology of the alliance.

“That is, the point is fear.

And Russia in the basis of its national policy, including domestic and foreign, laid not the fear of war with someone, but a principled choice in favor of peace and its maintenance, "the Russian diplomat wrote.

It is worth noting that NATO and Washington have already announced this month that in order to join the bloc, Ukraine needs to make more efforts in the field of reforms, in particular in the field of combating corruption.

According to representatives of the Pentagon, Kiev needs to adopt legislation "which will clearly delineate the responsibilities of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

The American department also considered it necessary to introduce control over direct foreign investment in Ukraine, "based on the interests of national security."

At the same time, the joint communiqué, which was adopted by NATO members at the end of the June summit, did not indicate specific dates or details regarding Ukraine's accession to the bloc.

"No matter what happens"

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, discussing the prospects for Ukraine's accession to NATO and the European Union, did not ignore the current topic of the EU-Russia summits.

“What do you think, the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the war in eastern Ukraine, more than 14 thousand people who died in the war in Donbass and 1.5 million people who are forced to leave their homes are all sufficient reasons not to seriously consider the idea of ​​resuming the summits EU - Russia before the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine? "

- asked the Ukrainian leader.

  • Independence Square in Kiev

  • globallookpress.com

  • © Sergii Kharchenko / ZUMAPRESS.com

In addition, earlier, the former Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavel Klimkin criticized on the air of the UKRLife channel the proposal of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to hold an EU summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to Klimkin, when the European Union "officially begins to communicate with Putin, it means a return to normal relations between the EU and Russia."

“And this means that the principles and values ​​of the European Union have been pushed somewhere very far.

And this is actually a problem for the European Union itself, since the European Union is starting this endless loop.

We loop through with China, we loop through with Russia.

No matter how it turns out ... And it really hinders the European Union.

If the European Union continues to twist like this, it will be worn out, ”RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

Let us remind you that on June 24 the authorities of Germany, France and Austria called for the development of a dialogue with the Russian side at the highest level.

Prior to this, the Financial Times, citing diplomatic sources, reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked the EU countries to consider the possibility of inviting the Russian president to a summit of European leaders, and French President Emmanuel Macron supported this initiative.

"Political Show of the West"

Commenting on Zelensky's statements about the prospects for Ukraine's membership in the European Union and NATO and his outrage at the idea of ​​resuming the EU-Russia summits, experts note that the appeal of the Ukrainian leader as a whole speaks of "an aggravation of Kiev's inferiority complex."

“Ukraine feels disadvantaged, because the EU is now actively discussing the idea of ​​developing a dialogue with Russia, and the Ukrainian issue is poorly represented on the European agenda.

In addition, the prospects for Ukraine's accession to the European Union and NATO are becoming increasingly illusory.

Kiev is put forward many conditions, but this is just an excuse not to accept the country into the alliance and the EU.

The situation looks like a political show of the West, "said Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies, IMEMO RAN, in an interview with RT.

According to him, Western countries "do not need additional problems" in the face of Ukraine as a member of the EU and NATO.

“There are enough difficulties without that.

Illegal migration has distorted the political, economic and social situation in Europe, and the coronavirus pandemic has also left its mark.

The West does not want to shoulder the problems of Ukraine as well.

Kiev is invited to solve them on its own, ”Olenchenko explained.

He also added that instead of regular appeals to NATO and the European Union to take Ukraine into their structure, Kiev should restore the country's economy, its historical and territorial ties "and engage in economy, not propaganda."

Ukrainian political scientist Alexander Semchenko even called Zelensky's appeal "an inadequate act."

“It all looks very strange.

If any of the Russian politicians decided to appeal to the German candidates for the post of Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, he would have already been accused of meddling in the elections in Germany.

It is because of such appeals that the President of Ukraine is not taken seriously by anyone, ”the analyst said in a commentary on RT.

The same applies to the former Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavel Klimkin, who hopes that with his "admonitions" about the Europeans' talks around the EU-Russia summit, he can "frighten someone in the European Union," Semchenko said.

“The threats of the former Ukrainian minister will certainly have no effect on Europe.

This speaks of his complete loss of connection with reality, ”he said.

  • Reuters

  • © Gleb Garanich

Olenchenko, in turn, noted that the attacks of Zelensky and Klimkin regarding the EU-Russia summits indicate Kiev's irritation with the idea of ​​developing a dialogue with Moscow.

“The Ukrainian president and ex-foreign minister of the country believe that the European Union should choose between Kiev and Moscow.

At the same time, they are asked to broadcast such theses, including from the United States.

After all, if Ukraine does not act as an irritant, if a normal dialogue between Russia and the EU resumes, then the role of Washington in Europe will be minimized.

Indeed, at any moment the Europeans may have a question, and how justified is the presence of the United States in the union, ”Olenchenko said.

As noted by Semchenko, recently "it has become even more obvious that its Western partners do not reckon with Ukraine."

“The West has already won loyalty from Kiev. Why is Ukraine needed in NATO and the EU, if it is already coping with assignments from Washington and Brussels, doing everything it is ordered to do? " - concluded the expert.