President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday Ukraine was formally applying for fast-track membership of the NATO military alliance and that Kyiv was ready for talks with Moscow, but not with President Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian leader made his comments in a video which appeared intended as a forceful rebuttal to the Kremlin after Putin held a ceremony in Moscow to proclaim four partially occupied Ukrainian regions as annexed Russian land. Read more: Canada slaps new sanctions on Russia after Putin annexes Ukrainian regions “We are taking our decisive step by signing Ukraine’s application for accelerated accession to NATO,” Zelenskiy said in a video on Telegram.
The video showed Zelenskiy announcing the membership bid and then signing a document flanked by his prime minister and the speaker of parliament.
The announcement was likely to touch a nerve in Moscow which casts the NATO bloc at home as a hostile military alliance bent on encroaching in Moscow sphere of influence and destroying it.