Ukraine applies for fast-track NATO membership

"We are taking our decisive step by signing Ukraine's application for accelerated accession to NATO," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced after the meeting with the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on September 30. "De facto, we have already completed our path to NATO. De facto, we have already proven interoperability with the Alliance’s standards, they are real for Ukraine - real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our interaction. We trust each other, we help each other and we protect each other. This is what the Alliance is. De facto. Today, Ukraine is applying to make it de jure. Under a procedure consistent with our significance for the protection of our entire community. Under an accelerated procedure," he said. Zelenskyy also stressed that Ukraine is "ready for a dialogue with Russia, but already with another president of Russia" as reaching an agreement on coexistence on equal, honest, decent, and fair terms "is impossible with this Russian president." Earlier, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization informed that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg "will brief the media at NATO HQ" on September 30.

NATO is already paying dearly for its hestitation on Ukraine