Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States, including the Biden administration, never saw Ukraine as a NATO member.
Zelenskyy made the comments while speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Munich ahead of a planned meeting with Vice President JD Vance.
“I heard so many times from the American side, by the way, Biden’s administration and now from President Trump. I heard a lot of messages from them by phone. My first phone call with President Biden and my first question, will we be in NATO? He said, no, no. And I said, we will see,” Zelenskyy said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the media during a briefing at the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine, Feb. 13, 2025.
Alex Babenko/AP
“But to be very honest, United States, they never saw us in NATO. They just spoke about it. But they really didn’t want us in NATO. It’s true,” Zelenskyy added.
Zelenskyy reiterated that if they cannot join NATO, they will build their own version within Ukraine. Zelenskyy said he doesn’t “want to be that person in history who helped Putin to occupy my country.”
