Ukraine President Zelenskyy opens up on joining NATO amid Russian attack

Amid Russia's invasion, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted on the issue of Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday. Speaking on the issue, Zelenskyy said that they 'have lost interest' because of NATO's unwillingness to accept the country. Further, the Ukraine President accused NATO of being 'scared' of confrontation with Russia. 

It is pertinent to mention here that Russia had long resisted Ukraine's move towards European institutions, and Zelenskyy's continuous demand to let the country join NATO was one of the reasons for the announcement of the special military operation by Putin on February 24.

As of Sunday, the United Nations has pegged the number of civilians killed at 406. It said that another 801 injured civilians had been confirmed as of midnight Sunday. The rights office uses strict methodology and only reports casualties, it has confirmed. Zelenskyy blamed the number of deaths of the Ukrainians at the hands of Russian troops on the West. "They refuse to close the skies and provide planes in spite of continuous requests," the Ukrainian President said. 

Kyiv wants direct talks between Zelenskyy and Putin

The third round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine took place on March 7. The third round of talks with Ukraine was focused on opening humanitarian corridors from Ukrainian cities under fire. There was disagreement on the outcome of talks as a negotiator from Kyiv- presidential advisor Mikhailo Podolyak in a tweet said, "We have achieved some positive results concerning the logistics of humanitarian corridors. Contradictory to that, Russia's Vladimir Medinsky said, "Our expectations from negotiations were not fulfilled. We hope that next time we will be able to take a more significant step forward."

Meanwhile, Kyiv has put forth the desire for direct talks between Zelenskyy and Putin. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said,"We have long wanted a direct conversation between the president of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin, because we all understand that it is he who makes the final decisions, especially now."