Zelenskyy: Signals about Ukraine's partial NATO accession – to be honest, it's nonsense

At a press conference on the results of 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has not yet been invited to join NATO and that "partial" accession to the Alliance is "nonsense."

The journalist asked Zelenskyy whether he considered the option of Ukraine's phased accession to NATO, based on the German model, "acceptable."

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine's accession to the Alliance is the "most powerful option" for the country.

"We are not invited to join NATO. And the signals about partial participation are... frankly, nonsense," the president said.

He emphasized that such messages are heard, but Ukraine has never received such proposals.

"Never from any of the partners. To be honest, it is very difficult to imagine how this can be. If the person, if he is a person, is speaking from Moscow: "The goals of the Minsk agreements have not been changed". This is a signal that this person does not want peace, right? They say: "The goals are there, we want to go to them." He does not want peace. Let's imagine what will happen if part of Ukraine is in NATO. I think these are high risks for us," Zelensky said.

He recalled Russian dictator Volodymyr Putin's "signals" to Finland.

"And here is the question: will NATO countries join and fight for a part of Ukrainian territory that has a certain status in NATO – not completely, but some status. After all, we do not recognize the occupied territories as Russian. That is, it will say that we are not quite in NATO – part of us is somehow in the security alliance, and part of us does not recognize it as Russian," Zelensky said.

He added that, in his opinion, such options for partial accession are a "fantasy."

On November 12, former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen put forward a proposal for Ukraine to join the Alliance, but without the territories occupied by Russia. In his opinion, this will not freeze the conflict, but will serve as a warning to the Russian Federation that it will not be able to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.

According to the survey of the Rating group, 53% of Ukrainians consider this idea unacceptable.