Ukraine Applying for Fast-Track NATO Membership & Here’s Why It’s Such a Big Issue

Just yesterday (30 September), Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine will be applying for fast-track membership for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) military alliance.

In particular, he added that Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, is “ready for talks” with the Russian capital Moscow, but is still not ready to speak to Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.

Zelensky, who made the official announcement through a video circulated on Telegram, described the move as a “decisive step”.

The clip also included the Ukrainian president, who had the Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament on either side of him, signing a document.

However, even though joining an organisation would probably seem pretty normal in a regular context, it kinda isn’t in this one.

Here’s why. (Hint: It has to do with the war, of course.)

And if you still haven’t “catched any ball” over the past few months regarding why exactly Putin has decided to invade Ukraine, here’s all you need to know:

And yes, I guess you can see why Russia doesn’t want Ukraine to be a part of NATO now.

Recent Move by Russia to “Reclaim” 4 Regions in Ukraine

Recently, Putin actually attended a ceremony in the Kremlin and signed treaties to annex four regions in Ukraine that have been partially occupied by Moscow, namely Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia.

These regions, which currently have pro-Kremlin leaders, basically announced that they were in favour of joining Russia, and it’s not hard to see why. (I mean, these leaders are Russian after all.)

However, these leaders did so through a voting process that was not recognised by other Western capitals and international organisations.

Hence, it’s not hard to see why Zelensky’s announcement that Ukraine, the last non-NATO country surrounding Russia, will be joining NATO might anger the leaders in Moscow since they see NATO as “hostile”.

Additionally, these Russian leaders also believe that NATO is trying to intrude on the influence that Moscow has and is trying to “destroy” this influence as well.

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Zelensky’s Comments on Russia

In his video, Zelensky criticised Russia and said that the country has been “using murder, blackmail, mistreatment and lies” in order to shamelessly and publicly change history and redraw the borders between countries.

However, he did also mention that Kyiv is still keen on coexisting with Russia if they can do so “on equal, honest, dignified and fair conditions”.

“Clearly, with this Russian president, it is impossible. He does not know what dignity and honesty are. Therefore, we are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but with another president of Russia,” he added.

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Featured Image: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com + Twitter (@NATO)