Anthony Iwuoma
At last, Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has faced the reality of its unbalanced war with its Russian neighbours, saying his country has agreed to rescind its ambition to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Zelensky on Tuesday said when he called the country’s military chiefs: “Ukraine is not a member of NATO. We understand that.
“We have heard for years that the doors were open, but we also heard that we could not join. It’s a truth and it must be recognised.”
He had also said his country had no plans to activate Article 5 of the NATO agreement, stipulating an attack on any country in the organisation is tantamount to an attack on all member countries.
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NATO rejected Zelensky’d request that it imposes a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine, fearing it could worsen the crisis.
“We always talk about how our sky needs to be defended like the alliance’s sky, but — we understand that there is always a ‘but,’.
“What will be the response of NATO to members of the alliance in Eastern Europe if they ask for protection, if Russian missiles fly to them or, God forbid, Russian planes?”, Zelensky asked.
While appreciating the help his Ukraine had so far received, Zelensky urged European leaders for more support to ward off the Russian aggression even though he accepted that his country was no longer had any chance of joining NATO.
Ukraine’s plan to join NATO triggered off last month’s invasion of its territory by Russia, which felt that NATO was getting too close to its borders and warned Ukraine against the move.
Russia has remained undeterred in the bombardment of Ukraine despite biting sanctions by the United States and some European countries.
The ensuing war has resulted in great losses of man and materials as well as creating refugee crisis in Europe.
With Zelensky’s change of mind about joining NATO, the world hopes that hostilities would cease in the next few days while efforts are on to normalise relations and rebuild the battered cities of Ukraine.