Ukrainian President Says NATO Is Afraid Of Confrontation With Russia
By Donald Standeford, Correspondent - Follow -
Date Published: March 8, 2022 06:30PM UTC
Last Modified: March 8, 2022 06:30PM UTC
KYIV - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he agrees to seek compromises, including on NATO, but is not going to surrender. Regarding NATO he said he 'cooled down to the issue' after realizing that "NATO was not ready to accept Ukraine" and said NATO is "afraid" of confrontation with Russia.
According to Ukrainian news Pravda UA, Zelenskyy held an interview with ABC News, where he said "First of all, I am ready for dialogue, but we are not ready for capitulation. Because it's not about me, it's about the people who elected me".
"As for NATO , I cooled down to this issue after we realized that NATO was not ready to accept Ukraine. The Alliance is afraid of contradictory things and confrontation with Russia"
He said that he does not want to be a country that "asks for something on its knees" and said "We are not going to be such a country and I do not want to be such a president".
"I'm talking about security guarantees . I think the points about the temporarily occupied territories and unrecognized republics that are not recognized by anyone but Russia… we can discuss and find a compromise on how these territories will live" Zelenskyy stated.
"It is important to me how people who want to be part of Ukraine will live in these territories. Who in Ukraine will say that they want to accept them? The question is more complicated than recognition".
"This is another ultimatum. But we are not ready to accept ultimatums. What you need: Putin should start talking, start a dialogue, instead of living in an information bubble. I think that's where he is - and he doesn't know the real situation".
