Zelensky Threatens Not to Attend First Ukraine-NATO Council Meeting: NYT

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has threatened not to attend the first meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council, as reported by a source from The New York Times. The event took place the day before, on July 12, during the second day of the NATO summit.

According to the American newspaper, Zelensky and his supporters in Central Europe wanted more than what was stated in the final communiqué of the NATO summit. The president was angered by the fact that the alliance is placing conditions on Ukraine even to receive an invitation to become a NATO member. On the first day of the summit, he tweeted that the situation was unprecedented and absurd. A source from The New York Times, along with a Washington Post interlocutor, noted earlier that this tweet upset the American delegation.

The Ukraine-NATO Council was established at the NATO summit on July 12. Previously, such a body only existed with Russia, while NATO had only a Joint Commission with Ukraine. The meeting of this Commission could be blocked by any member state of the alliance. However, the gathering of the Council cannot be blocked.