ASTANA, 14 October (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko was asked by Russian journalists to comment on Ukraine's official statement that Ukraine is already de facto a NATO member, BelTA has learned.
“We don't really care. It is more of wishful thinking. Actually this doesn't bother us very much. If they want to be a NATO member, well, God bless them. With all the ensuing consequences, of course,” the president said.
A reminder, after negotiations with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov said that Ukraine is already a de facto member of NATO in view of long-term cooperation between Kiev and NATO. In particular, Oleksii Reznikov wrote in his official Twitter account: “Thankful to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for his support of Ukraine. We have come a long way and have de facto joined the Alliance.” He expressed his opinion that successful reforms will open up “new horizons for Ukraine”.
In late September 2022, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky applied for “accelerated ascension” into NATO. A week ago, EU Commissioner for Internal Market of the European Union Thierry Breton said that Ukraine cannot join NATO during the period of hostilities on its territory. He called such an application ‘a political demarche'.
