President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that he understands that Ukraine will not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance while the war with Russia is still ongoing.
“We are proper people and we understand that we are not going to pull any NATO country into a war,” he said during a joint statement in Kiev with Estonian President Alar Karis.
“And that’s why we understand that we will not be members of NATO while this war is going on. Not because we don’t want to, because it’s impossible.”
The Ukrainian president said he had ordered a full audit of air raid shelters in the capital Kiev and across the country.
He made the remark during a high-level government security meeting a day after three people were killed in the capital after failing to gain access to shelter during a Russian airstrike.
Ukrainian forces in the city of Kiev said on Friday they had shot down 36 Russian missiles and drones in and around the capital overnight. At least two people were injured by debris before authorities lifted air strike warnings in most parts of the country.
Russia has launched about 20 missile and drone strikes on Kiev since early May, a wave of attacks aimed at disrupting Ukraine’s preparations for a major counter-offensive.
(With information from Pavel Polityuk; editing by Timothy Heritage)
Source: CNN Brasil
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