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Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky Kyiv has asked to join NATO quickly after Russia formally annexed four Moscow-controlled areas of Ukraine, it said on Friday.
Ukrainian leader’s comments follow Russian President Vladimir Putin A ceremony in Moscow to declare four partially occupied Ukrainian regions as lands annexed by Russia.
The video shows Zelensky announcing the decision and then signing a document accompanied by the prime minister and the speaker of parliament.
“We have demonstrated our compatibility with alliance standards… We are taking a decisive step by signing Ukraine’s application to accelerate NATO membership,” Zelensky said in a paragraph posted on social media at the Ukrainian presidential palace. said in the video.
Zelensky also warned that as long as President Putin is in power, he will not negotiate with Russia. “As long as Putin is president of the Russian Federation, Ukraine will not have any negotiations with Russia. We will negotiate with the new president,” Zelensky said.
Putin ignored international law by signing a treaty to annex parts of Ukraine, vowing to protect the newly formed region by “all available means”, another escalation of his seven-month-long invasion of Ukraine.
Putin urged Ukraine to sit down and negotiate peace, but immediately insisted he would not discuss the return of the occupied territories – putting him at odds with the Ukrainian government and its Western backers, which have rejected his land grab.
During a Kremlin ceremony in the ornate St. George’s Hall, Putin accused the West of fueling hostilities, which he said had turned Russia into a “colony” and “a mass of slaves.” In a conflict that has killed and wounded tens of thousands of people In China, the toughness of his stance has further heightened tensions to levels not seen since the Cold War.
The EU immediately responded to Putin’s latest move with a joint statement rejecting and condemning the “illegal annexation” of four regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye.
(input from institution)
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