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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Ukraine Applies for NATO Membership, Rules Out Putin Talks

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk pose with a request for fast-track membership in the NATO military alliance, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, after Russia held what it called referendums – votes that were denounced by Kyiv and Western governments as illegal and coercive – in Kyiv, Ukraine September 30, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced a surprise bid for fast-track membership of the NATO military alliance on Friday and ruled out talks with President Vladimir Putin, striking back at Moscow after it said it had annexed four Ukrainian regions.

Zelenskiy signed the NATO application papers in an online video clearly intended as a forceful rebuttal to the Kremlin after Putin held a ceremony in Moscow to proclaim the four partially occupied regions as annexed Russian land.

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