Ukrainian President Zelensky’s Thursday address stated in no uncertain terms that their lack of entrance into NATO had nothing to do with the status of their army.
QUICK FACTS:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the nation on Thursday, saying that their military fitness is not the reason they aren’t in NATO.
- Zelenskyy outlined the pleas he has made to various countries for military aid and what the Russian army has done to his country during their invasion.
- The Ukrainian leader said that he does hope NATO is strong enough to stand up to Russia, as he is of the opinion that Putin will not stop at Ukraine, but will continue to invade other countries.
- In addition to requests for assistance, he asked that after a month of fighting Russia no one ever say that their military does not meet NATO standards, saying they have proven what they are capable of.
PORTIONS OF ZELENSKYY’S ADDRESS:
- “Ukraine asked for a percent, one percent of all your tanks to be given or sold to us! But we do not have a clear answer yet… The worst thing during the war is not having clear answers to requests for help,” Zelenskyy said during his address.
- “You can give us one percent of all your aircraft. One percent of all your tanks. One percent! We can’t just buy it. Such a supply directly depends only on NATO’s decisions, on political decisions, by the way.
- “This is a request for the sake of our military. After such a war against Russia … Never, please, never tell us again that our army does not meet NATO standards. We have shown what our standards are capable of. And how much we can give to the common security in Europe and the world. How much we can do to protect against aggression against everything we value, everything you value.”
BACKGROUND:
- Ukraine has been at war with Russia for a month as of the 24th, and according to some experts, the war is far from over.
- To date, the United States has sent around $800 million in aid as part of a US security package to Ukraine.
- Included in the Ukrainian aid are 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 2,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles 1,000 light anti-armor weapons, 6,000 AT-4 anti-armor weapons, 100 drones, reportedly Switchblade “kamikazes,” 100 grenade launchers, 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns, 400 shotguns, more than 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition, as well as grenade launchers, 25,000 sets of body armor, according to the White House.
- That shipment was in addition to the more than 600 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, approximately 2,600 Javelin anti-tank missiles, 5 Mi-17 helicopters, 3 patrol boats, and various other counter-artillery and counter-aerial attack systems sent in January to the Ukrainian military by the United States, as The New York Post reported.
