Ukraine again calls for full NATO membership

Ukraine has again called for NATO membership, saying that only by fully joining the alliance can its future security be guaranteed as it fights the Russian invasion that began nearly three years ago.

"We are convinced that the only real guarantor of Ukraine's security, as well as the preventive factor for further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other countries, is Ukraine's full membership in NATO," the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said in a statement. issued before the December 3rd meeting between the Foreign Ministers of the NATO countries in Brussels.

Reacting to this statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Ukraine's membership in NATO would be "unacceptable" and would constitute a "threat" for Russia.

This statement comes just a few days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine's accession to NATO would end what he called the "hot war phase", instigated by Russia, since the start of the war in February 2022.

Zelensky told Sky News on November 30 that he would be willing to consider a ceasefire if Ukraine's unoccupied territories were under NATO protection, and as long as an invitation to join the alliance would recognized Ukraine's international borders.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andriy Sybiha, is expected to inform the Foreign Ministers of the NATO countries in Brussels, about the current situation on the front line in the east of the country.

There, it is reported that Russian troops have made limited progress against the smaller number of soldiers and fewer weapons of the Ukrainian army.

The meeting in Brussels is expected to discuss the continuation of NATO's military aid to Ukraine, as well as the attack that Russia carried out last month with an experimental ballistic missile against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

Russia has said the new medium-range missile, called the Oreshnik, can hit targets around Europe and cannot be intercepted by air defenses.

The war in Ukraine started on February 24, 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the war a "special military operation" to demilitarize Ukraine.

The West has responded to Russia, hitting the economy of this country with harsh sanctions.

As a result of the war, thousands of people have died and millions more have been displaced from their homes./ REL