President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insists that Ukraine should become the next member of the Alliance right after Sweden.
Zelenskyy on a joint briefing with the leaders of the Nordic countries in Helsinki congratulated Finland on becoming the 31st member of the Alliance in April.
"I sincerely wish Sweden to complete the accession procedure as soon as possible. Together with you, NATO will consist of 32 members. Ukraine can and should become the 33rd member. I think so, and I really wish this for our country," Zelenskyy said.
As the Ukrainian president states, Ukraine is aware that while Russian aggression continues, it is impossible to implement its accession procedure.
"But there are no obstacles to a political decision on the algorithm of our accession to NATO," Zelenskyy said.
He stressed that Ukraine has already "made a historic weakening of the greatest threat to all of us: Russian revanchism." The president also stressed that Ukraine is already a de facto member of NATO and cooperates with the Alliance for the benefit of common defence.
