Kiev: Ukraine’s President says Ukraine understands it is not in NATO, wants security guarantees.
Ukraine understands it does not have an open door to NATO membership and therefore proposes a way to protect itself independently provided it has security guarantees, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.
If we cannot enter through open doors, then we must cooperate with the associations with which we can, which will help us, protect us … and have separate guarantees, he said in a video address.
The United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday that the latest confirmed civilian toll in Ukraine is 691 people killed and 1,143 injured since Russia’s invasion began 20 days ago.
The death count, which includes 48 children, was up from at least 636 civilians killed according to the previous report on Monday from UN human rights monitors in the country.
The United Nations said the true civilian casualty figures are believed to be considerably higher, due to intense hostilities in some areas and reporting delays, including from Izium in the Kharkiv region, the southern city of Mariupol, and Volnovakha in the Donetsk region.