Zelensky: We are not accepted into NATO because they are afraid of Russia

What happened. It has become known that President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine is not accepted into NATO because they are afraid of Russia

Source. He stated this in an interview with public news.

Details. "As for whether Ukraine is ready to give up NATO: You can't approach the 200-kilogram bar and lift it immediately. And we have more than 200 kilograms. It should be divided into several approaches. First of all, find a format in which to understand in general, whether Russia wants to stop the war. Because we may not get to that. And if we understand that it can do it, because it will have a lot of problems because of NATO, the price, changes in the political leadership, and so on. And if we understand that all these things that the world has launched together, then we see the first step when we realize that by uniting we can stop evil. Therefore, I believe that without a meeting with the President of Russia, we will not really understand what they are ready to do to stop the war, and what compromises we are not ready for.

We are not accepted into NATO because they are afraid of Russia. And we all need to calm down. There are NATO member states that want to be our guarantors of security, but unfortunately cannot offer us membership in the alliance.

Our state will not forgive us for the loss of our population, but the future generation will not forgive us for the loss of our territories. The people became the government, the government became the people, we are all in the same boat, we know who is a friend, who is an enemy. The authorities have broken the political and diplomatic silence I have hated since the beginning of my work. We learned who are the friends who are ready for everything for us, and there are those who are not ready.

When we talk about compromises, we need to know the value of those trade-offs. We are not ready to lose our territories again.
It is not necessary Russia to throw out loud phrases like "we have ultimatums, points, carry out". This will not lead to anything. Ukraine will not be able to fulfill any ultimatums. We all need to be destroyed for this. Neither Kharkiv, nor Mariupol residents, nor Kyivites – we can't do that.

We see this in the occupied cities. They raise the flag – they take it down, they shoot, and people come out again. People do not accept them. They may capture, but people will either fight to the last or leave.
Crimea and Donbas are a very difficult story for everyone. And in order to find a way out, security guarantees and an end to the war are needed first. And after that we have to solve the issue of the temporarily occupied territories. I am ready to raise these issues at the first meeting with the President.

In matters of security, we will talk about constitutional changes. I explained to all negotiating groups: when you talk about all these changes, and they can become historic, we will not go anywhere, we will come to a referendum. We are finally fully united and I do not want to lose this unity.

Nobody is at war with the Russian people and nobody is at war with Russia. They came here and are fighting against us. Our troops are not there.

People in Russia are afraid to go to the square, once again go online and support Ukraine. Some European countries also live in this mood. Therefore, when I say "do not be afraid to fight", I mean to fight in sanctions, in diplomacy. Ukraine's accession to the EU is a war. And there is no need to take up arms. Russia sees us as part of post-Soviet life. This is war.

Putin spoke of plans to move on to Europe. First of all, take away the Baltic countries, and then told Scholz what they can get on the borders of the Russian military. I said that if the negotiations fail, it is only because they will provide such conditions that we simply cannot agree to. And then it will be only the Third World War.

I want to tell all Ukrainians who now see the Russian military from the windows of their homes that the picture will definitely change. First, it will change for our military. And then to the civilian population. I want them to see their children and grandchildren outside the windows – the future of our state.

By destroying us, Putin will surely destroy himself. I do not want us to go down in history as heroes and as a nation that does not exist. But if we are destroyed, we will be heroes. But if they are destroyed, they will not even have heroism.