During a joint visit to the National Defence University with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would become a NATO member after winning the war against Russia.
"We will be in NATO only when we win. I do not believe that we will be accepted into NATO during the war," Zelenskyy said.
He noted that for some NATO members, this [Ukraine's accession to the Alliance] is a risk, while others are simply sceptical.
"The question of NATO is a question of the majority, and the majority is a political question. For Ukraine to be politically accepted into the Alliance, we need a victory," Zelenskyy explained.
The head of state also expressed the opinion that the war with Russia is ongoing, among other things, because Ukraine was not previously accepted into the Alliance.
"Russia worked very hard with our current partners. They had a dialogue, and it did everything it could to ensure that Ukraine was not accepted not only into NATO, but also into the European Union, so that Ukraine would not simply develop. And that it should not be detached from the influence of the Russian Federation. Therefore, in order to break away from its influence, we need to defend our independence," the head of state said.