Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that even before the full-scale war, he directly raised the issue of Ukraine's NATO membership in a dialogue with then-US President Joe Biden, but received a clear refusal, UNN reports.
Details
According to Zelenskyy, from the first days of communication with former US President Joe Biden, he raised the issue of Ukraine's accession to NATO, as it is enshrined in the Constitution and is considered a real security guarantee.
From the first days, from the first dialogue with the former President of the United States of America, Biden, I raised this question. We have NATO in the constitution of our state and a European course - I absolutely directly asked this question: "Can Ukraine be in NATO?" Because we want this, and we understand that these are real security guarantees. This was even before the war. President Biden told me that "no, you will not be in NATO." I approached this issue every time, and in the White House, it already caused smiles and all sorts of reactions. Frankly, I don't understand if a certain state says: "We are, in principle, not against it, but you won't be there." I believe this: you won't be there if someone is against it, and we need to speak frankly - who is against it, and then resolve these issues or not resolve them.
In addition, the President of Ukraine emphasized that he does not consider it necessary to change the Constitution of Ukraine due to the position of other states.
Frankly, I don't think we need to change the constitution of our state. Firstly, it is the Constitution of Ukraine, and let the Ukrainian people decide what to do with this constitution - with our constitution, and not someone else. Certainly not because of the calls of the Russian Federation or anyone else - this is our constitution. We wanted to have such security guarantees, we believe we deserve them. The policy is consistent, I will say honestly, in the US it does not change regarding Ukraine's NATO membership. They don't see us there yet. Maybe in the future the position will change, maybe someone will realize that a strong Ukrainian army strengthens NATO, and not vice versa.
Recall
The US and Ukraine discussed a scenario in which Ukraine would effectively be excluded from joining NATO due to agreements between the Alliance and Russia. At the same time, Kyiv would not be forced to officially abandon its aspiration to join the alliance.