Ukraine could bring “extraordinary” defense capabilities to the North Atlantic Alliance if it becomes a NATO member, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Tuesday in Ankara, according to AFP and Sky News.
He also urged NATO to show more “determination” in supporting Ukraine’s air defense, as Russia intensifies missile attacks, particularly with ballistic and hypersonic missiles, against his country’s cities and infrastructure.
“Ukraine has its place within NATO, because NATO together with Ukraine represents the alliance of the future,” Zelenski emphasized in front of an audience made up of representatives from the defense industry and the Alliance.
Ukraine wishes to join the North Atlantic Alliance, but so far, the United States, led by President Donald Trump, has opposed this.
“Do you truly believe it would be fair to leave a country and a people with such a level of defense capabilities outside of NATO?”, asked the Ukrainian president on the first day of the Alliance summit, held in Turkey’s capital, Ankara.
“We already consider ourselves trustworthy partners, and integration into a common security community would be a natural step,” Zelenski further stated. “The truth is that we will remain for a long time in the vicinity of the source of the problem – Russia. Ukraine’s accession to NATO represents an extraordinary source of defensive capacity,” added the leader from Kiev.
More than four years after Russia’s large-scale invasion, Ukraine has developed expertise and skills in the field of drones, but has also managed in a short time to create from scratch a missile production capability, such as the “Flamingo” cruise missile.
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