German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Ukraine’s member states are not on the agenda of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“I also have this option in Moscow and my visit [Ukraine’s membership of NATO] He said in an interview with the German public broadcaster ZDF.
“I publicly said that we all know that Ukraine’s NATO members are not on the agenda of today’s alliance,” he added. “It was understood by the President of the United States, it was [was] It is also understood by the President of France. “
Scholz said he shared security concerns with Russian President Vladimir Putin and made it clear to Putin that Ukraine would not be allowed to participate in NATO.
“Russians were worried about their safety management issues. [Putin was worried] NATO has military facilities and rockets in Ukraine targeting Russian territory. So I tried to make it clear that this wouldn’t happen, “he explained in detail.
The Epoch Times asked NATO for comment.
Ukraine’s pursuit of NATO accession seemed to be one of the major controversies that led to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
In February 2019, then-President of Ukraine Petropolo Schenko signed a constitutional amendment promising that the country would become a member of NATO and the European Union after parliament passed the bill.
Poroschenko told Ukrainian military leadership a few days after signing an amendment that joining NATO guarantees the security of Ukraine.
On the Russian side, Putin said Ukraine could be the starting point for NATO missiles targeting Russia by deepening its ties with the alliance, “red” to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO. It states that it is necessary to draw a “line”.
The US and other Ukrainian alliances sought to avoid the war by relieving tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
However, the Kremlin criticized the United States and NATO for failing to address Moscow’s basic security concerns, demanding that NATO stop expanding eastward and not deploy weapons near the Russian border.
Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, after unsuccessful efforts to stop the war.
Russian troops have reportedly made rapid progress and surrounded several Ukrainian cities or facilities in the first week.
They also reportedly gained control of Kherson, a port city in southern Ukraine.
However, Russian troops faced strong resistance from Ukrainian troops, especially in the suburbs of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
According to the British Ministry of Defense, resistance from the Ukrainian army and the difficulty of Russia’s own logistical support have slowed the Russian army’s advance.
UN officials said about 1.2 million people had fled Ukraine on the ninth day of the war.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi confirmed a staggering number in a tweet on March 4.
Grundy said on Thursday that in his 40 years of work in a refugee emergency, he had rarely seen such a rapid escape from Ukraine.
“Every hour and every minute, more people are fleeing the horrifying reality of violence. Countless people are evacuating the country,” he said in a statement.
The United Nations also stated that as of March 3, it had recorded 1,006 civilian casualties in the context of Russia’s military action against Ukraine, primarily caused by artillery and air strikes.
Officials said 331 civilian deaths were recorded, including 19 children, and 675 people, including 31 children, were injured. But the United Nations states that “actual tolls are much higher.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that 9,200 Russian soldiers had been killed in the war so far. Russian officials reported that 498 of the soldiers were killed.
Maryam Rajabigoolbar and Tom Ozimek contributed to the report.
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Allen Zhong is a longtime writer and reporter for The Epoch Times. He joined the Epoch Media Group in 2012. His main focus is American politics.