Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said on Tuesday that, Although NATO is the “strongest defense alliance in the world”, some of its members “are mesmerized by Russian aggression”in a videoconference message to European leaders meeting in London.
Zelenski intervened in a meeting of leaders of the Nordic and Baltic countries convened by the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson -the so-called Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF, in English)-, to discuss security in northern Europe in the face of the growing threat from Russia.
the ukrainian president regretted that the Atlantic Alliance does not apply a no-fly zone over Ukraine to prevent Russian attacks and pointed out that the international sanctions imposed so far “are not enough”, while calling for a total “trade embargo” on Russia.
“We hear a lot about a Third World War, which is supposed to start if NATO closes the Ukrainian sky to Russian missiles and planes, thus the humanitarian no-fly corridor has not yet been established,” he lamented.
“This allows the Russian Army to bomb peaceful cities and blow up blocks of flats, hospitals and schools.”he told the leaders gathered in the London palace of Lancaster House.
Zelensky expressed his frustration that, despite its alleged “open door” policy, NATO has not admitted his country as a member, something that Ukraine has no choice but to “accept”, and urged to seek other avenues of military collaboration.
President criticized that many companies have not yet withdrawn from Russian territory and called on governments to block Russian ships from entering their ports and for all Russian banks to be excluded from the Swift financial messaging system.
He also requested more weapons –“You already know the type we need, everyone knows it”he affirmed – and said that the one they receive is used within 20 hours.
“He rightly challenges us to do more, and we all know that we can and must do more,” said Johnson, after once again acknowledging the courage of the Ukrainian leader and people.
JEF, led by the UK, is a northern European security coalition, bringing together representatives from Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, several of them bordering Russia.
The prime minister will today urge the coalition, some of whose members belong to NATO, to “work together on greater resilience against threats from hostile states”, which will include greater collaboration on defense. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
