Ukraine to apply for expedited accession to NATO
Ukraine will officially apply for expedited accession to NATO on September 30, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced.
We’ve de facto already gone through our path to NATO. We’ve de facto proven our compatibility with the standards of the North Atlantic Alliance. They’re real for Ukraine — real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our cooperation. [...]
Today, Ukraine will submit an application to make it de jure. [...] On an expedited basis.
Because Ukraine's accession to the alliance will require the approval of all NATO member states, Zelensky proposed that in the meantime, Ukraine's Western partners implement security guarantees.
Only increasing our strength and expelling the occupiers from our entire territory will restore peace. That's the path we're going to go take.
Zelensky said that Ukraine is ready to enter into negotiations with Russia, but "with a different Russian president." In addition, he announced that at the next session of Ukraine's parliament, lawmakers will consider a bill to nationalize all Russian assets in Ukraine.