Zelenskiy urges Biden to rally support for Ukraine’s Nato membership

KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the outgoing US administration of President Joe Biden on Sunday to help convince NATO members to invite Ukraine to join the alliance, as Ukraine’s war with Russia enters an unpredictable new phase.

Kyiv wants NATO members to issue an invitation at an alliance meeting in Brussels this week as the invasion grinds toward its three-year mark and Russia makes battlefield gains.

Zelenskiy spoke to reporters in Kyiv alongside the new president of the European Union’s council of member states, Antonio Costa, who travelled to Ukraine on his first day in office to show support for Kyiv in its war with Russia.

The Ukrainian leader, who has been calibrating Ukraine’s positions before Donald Trump succeeds Biden in January, acknowledged that some NATO allies were still wary of inviting Kyiv to join the alliance, which obliges all members to aid each other if attacked.

“There are two months left in the current administration in the United States,” he said. “They have influence on those few European sceptics of our future (in NATO).”