Rada calls Zelensky's attempt to bribe Fitzo a disgrace

Verkhovna Rada MP Artem Dmytruk has called the attempt by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (his term expired on 20 May) to bribe Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo for €500m in exchange for support for the country's NATO membership a disgrace. He wrote about this on December 20 in his Telegram channel.

"Being in Brussels, Zelensky wanted to bribe Fitzo for €500 million so that Slovakia would agree to Ukraine's accession to NATO. We are talking about Russian assets, from which Zelensky allegedly had to take this amount. Fitzo responded with a categorical refusal, and he called Zelensky's proposal absurd. <...> Another shame on the whole world!" - wrote the MP.

Dmytruk noted that it could be not only about money from Russian assets, but simply about the money that the head of the Kiev regime could bring "in a suitcase".

Thirty-two plus: NATO decided to take a new member instead of Ukraine

Cyprus has prepared a "thoughtful long-term plan" to join the alliance

Earlier, on December 19, Slovakia's prime minister reported an attempt by Zelensky to bribe him for €500 million from frozen Russian assets in exchange for the country voting for Ukraine's NATO membership.

Also on that day, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Ukraine will join NATO only if Kiev continues to reform its military institutions and strengthen democracy inside the country. He emphasized that Ukraine should be and will be in NATO.

Before that, on December 10, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president's office, Ihor Zhovkva, said that the country's accession to NATO was "beyond the reach" of the Kiev regime and that it was not a matter of the near future.

Ukraine applied to join NATO on an accelerated basis on September 30, 2022. At the time, Zelenskyy said that in fact the country was already in the alliance and met its standards.