MOSCOW, Jun 2 For Russia, membership theme Ukraine in NATO is one of the main irritants and problems for years to come, said the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov.
«Naturally, this (Ukraine's intention to become a NATO member — ed.) is one of the main irritants and potential problems for many, many years. Many European countries, oddly enough, are well aware of this,» Peskov said , responding to the request of journalists to comment on the words of Volodymyr Zelensky about Ukraine's membership in NATO.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference that the bloc considers Ukraine's entry real, but he did not answer the question whether Kiev will receive an official invitation to the alliance at the summit in Vilnius on July 11-12.
Later, Zelensky said that Ukraine needs to receive invitations to NATO and the EU this year.
At the end of September 2022, Zelensky announced that Ukraine was applying to join NATO on an accelerated basis. Carrying out such a procedure is untimely, Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security, later noted. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine will not be satisfied with any other decision of the NATO summit in Vilnius, except for an invitation to join the alliance.