Zelensky pointed to four countries' reluctance to see Ukraine as part of NATO

Hungary, Slovakia, the USA and Germany do not want to see Ukraine in NATO. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term of office expired on May 20, 2024, said on January 16.

"The United States, Hungary, Slovakia and Germany have sincerely said that they do not want to see us in NATO. This is an open conversation, and it seems to me that there are no secrets here," he said, answering journalists' questions after a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

According to Zelensky, each state has "its own reasons" for this.

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel also spoke outagainst inviting Ukraine to NATO on December 4, 2024. According to him, this could pose a threat of conflict escalation.

Before that, on 3 December, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that Kiev considered NATO membership to be the only possible security guarantee for the country. In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov said that Ukraine's joining the alliance was unacceptable for Russia because it was a threat. For his part, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte pointed out that the bloc was not discussing Kiev's invitation and was negotiating only on arms supplies.

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.