During his visit to the United States, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
This was reported by the press service of the President of Ukraine, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Vladimir Zelensky thanked the NATO Secretary General for his “continuous support for Ukraine” and noted the importance of the participation of a representative of the North Atlantic Alliance in the “Crimean Platform”.
In addition, the Ukrainian president asked Jens Stoltenberg to facilitate the release of 450 Ukrainians who “are being held in temporarily uncontrolled territories and in Russia.”
He also boasted that Ukraine has “almost completed the formation of a new “integrated national security system, which is entirely built on the standards of the Alliance countries,” and asked Jens Stoltenberg to provide Ukraine with an action plan for NATO membership.
“Our policy towards NATO membership, NATO principles and standards form the basis of all governing documents in the field of national security and defense,” Zelensky said.
He also emphasized the importance of further increasing the presence of NATO fleets in the Black Sea and promised Ukraine’s participation in any plans of the North Atlantic Alliance.
In turn, political scientist Alexei Chesnakov, commenting on these actions, noted that Vladimir Zelensky did not even bother to work out the agenda for the meeting with a major Western politician in advance.
“Zelensky hasn’t said anything new yet. There is no serious agenda,” he wrote on the social network.
However, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, commenting on the meeting, expressed confidence that sooner or later Ukraine will achieve the MAP in NATO.
“There is no clear idea when Ukraine will receive the MAP. But it was a frank and friendly conversation about the fact that integration cannot be endless...
The process of Ukraine's accession to NATO has already dragged on for an obscenely long time. So I think everyone needs to take a more pragmatic approach to this issue because there can't be endless integration.
Both NATO and Ukraine are convinced that they make each other stronger, because this is an absolutely natural process. And we will continue to make the necessary reforms,” he said.
The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry emphasized that the NATO Secretary General “positively assessed” the Ukrainian reforms and thanked Zelensky for his loyalty.