Zelenskyy responds to Trump's statement on Ukraine's NATO membership

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to a statement made by the newly elected US President, Donald Trump, concerning Ukraine's potential membership in NATO. He indicated that it's premature to draw any conclusions on the matter, as he shared during a meeting with Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen.

He noted the US assured Ukraine that Patriot systems are exclusive to NATO countries, now they're wondering why this didn't change after Ukraine recently joined the alliance, 'Either we've been in NATO for a long time and we're just now getting these systems after all these years, or we should not draw conclusions from this sudden deployment,' he said.

The President recalled that a similar situation previously occurred with Patriot systems, missile defense systems, and other NATO-approved weapons had already encountered the same issues.

"We must do everything possible to get Ukraine the level of security it deserves, so that Russia's Putin won't be able to keep meddling. We're going to put in the effort," he stated.

Ukraine's lack of NATO membership and specific security guarantees is one of the reasons given by Zelenskyy as to why the war is happening.

"I'm being honest, but unfortunately, with all due respect to European countries and the United States, despite the significant assistance we've received from them since the war began, there was no unified support within the US and among our European allies regarding Ukraine's NATO membership," he admitted.

The president pointed out that certain countries have expressed opposition to Ukraine's potential NATO membership.

These countries, namely America, Germany, Hungary, and Slovakia, are involved, that is a fact. If I'm being honest, we have to acknowledge that no one was aware we were there. I attribute this lack of awareness to one of the causes of this war, the President noted.

According to President Zelenskyy, it appears Vladimir Putin may have calculated that no one would come to Ukraine's defense.

"He (Putin) had the larger army, thought he could take us down, but our Ukrainian army has a lot of strong people, and they've made quite the impression on the entire world," Zelenskyy said.

He underscored that the modern Ukraine has a legitimate right to expect meaningful and firm defense assurances from the international community.

I've had discussions with three U.S. presidents: President Trump, President Biden, and once again with President Trump. I've repeatedly emphasized the topic of security guarantees.

President Zelenskyy emphasized that before Ukraine can receive strong security assurances, they should not expect Ukrainians to remain in Europe.

It doesn't make sense to talk about wanting Ukrainians to return home without providing them with security guarantees first. Every Ukrainian who wants to go back should feel safe for themselves and their loved ones. We're not just looking for a general gesture, but specific security guarantees. We're asking the US and other countries that are our allies to provide us with those assurances. I'll be discussing this with the US president and we shouldn't make any rash decisions just yet.

What Trump said

According to previous reports by RBC-Ukraine, newly elected US President Donald Trump claimed that he understands why Russia invaded Ukraine.

He claims that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has underscored a point that NATO and Ukraine should be kept separate.