President Volodymyr Zelensky recalled that until 2014, Ukraine had non-aligned status, which, however, did not save the country from the outbreak of war, occupation of Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions by Russia.
The head of state announced this during a joint press conference with Austrian Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“In 2014, Ukraine had non-aligned status. (…) It is clear how all this ended – the outbreak of war, the occupation of the Crimean peninsula, and the occupation of part of eastern Ukraine: parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Therefore, we cannot say that we were attacked because we were in a certain union. All of these are unnecessary narratives. We just didn’t have enough certainty, our army didn’t have enough strength, and our leaders didn’t have enough leadership, it seems to me. This is my personal opinion. And Europe didn’t have enough unity,” Zelensky said.
He stressed that Ukraine seeks an end to the war, “but not as an ultimatum and not at the expense of independence.”
As reported, in the so-called memorandum, which the Russian side handed over to the Ukrainian side in Istanbul, the second point is the requirement for Ukraine’s neutrality, its refusal to join military alliances and coalitions.
Earlier, Zelensky said the document served as “an ultimatum from the Russian side”.
Photo: President’s Office
Source: Zelensky: Ukraine's non-aligned status didn’t save country from war in 2014
