On September 30, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announced a bid to join the NATO alliance in response to the Kremlin declaring it had annexed four regions of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy declared the fast-track bid in a video address to the nation by stating, “We are taking our decisive step by signing Ukraine’s application for accelerated accession to NATO.” Zelenskyy signed the document alongside his Prime Minister and Speaker of the Parliament.
However, NATO couldn’t immediately respond to questions about Zelenskyy’s “accelerated” application to join the alliance and shied away from directly endorsing Ukraine’s bid. Ukraine is considered an aspirant country for membership in NATO, the world’s biggest security alliance with 30 countries, whereas all the allies must agree with Ukraine’s bid to join the alliance.
Acknowledging the bid, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, “A decision on membership, of course, has to be taken by all 30 allies, and we take these decisions by consensus.” and he added, “Our focus now is on providing immediate support to Ukraine, to help Ukraine defend itself against the brutal Russian invasion.”
The prospect of Ukraine joining NATO has fuelled frustration for Moscow, and in response to the bid, Russia’s security council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said, “Ukraine’s NATO application is nothing but Kyiv’s request to ‘hasten the start of World War III.”
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