Ukrainians must realize the country will not be joining NATO and must "count on ourselves and our partners who are helping us" to withstand the Russian onslaught, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday.
Later in the day, the White House said President Joe Biden will travel to Brussels for a March 24 NATO summit on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations yielded a sliver of hope when Zelenskyy adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said “there is certainly room for compromise.” However, the invading forces continued their bombardment of Kyiv while a siege of the port city of Mariupol prompted about 20,000 civilians to flee. Negotiations are expected to resume Wednesday.
Zelenskyy, speaking to representatives of the U.K.-led Joint Expeditionary Force, said Ukraine has heard for years about "the allegedly open doors” of NATO but acknowledged his country will not be able to join. Instead, Ukraine needs separate security guarantees from its allies, he said.
Zelenskyy had been a strong supporter of Ukraine's efforts to join NATO. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, has called for a guarantee that Ukraine would never join NATO among terms for an end to the war.
Still, Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for NATO to set up a no-fly zone above Ukraine to ease an aerial assault from Russia that has decimated Ukraine cities since the invasion began Feb. 24. And he said Tuesday that Europe could “help yourself by helping us” with more military aid. The Ukrainian military is using up weapons and ammunition meant to last a week in 20 hours, he said.
Leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia were traveling to Kyiv on a European Union mission Tuesday to show support for Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a tweet announcing the trip that "Europe must guarantee Ukraine's independence and ensure that it is ready to help in Ukraine's reconstruction."
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