New Delhi: Under fire from Russia for the fifth day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Monday urged the European Union to give his country immediate membership.
“I’m sure it is fair. I’m sure it is possible,” Zelensky said in a video address.
The 44-year-old leader said, “We appeal to the European Union for the immediate accession of Ukraine via a new special procedure. Our goal is to be together with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be on an equal footing.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine demanded an “immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops” as both countries prepared for diplomatic talks for a possible breakthrough.
Zelensky, however, has set very low expectations for the dialogue prompting experts to wonder whether it would merely remain a political sideshow.
Russian news agency Interfax has reported that forces seized two small cities in southeastern Ukraine and the surrounding area of a nuclear power plant.
Forces have taken over the towns of Berdyansk and Enerhodar in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhya region as well as the area around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, Reuters quoted Interfax.
The plant’s operations were normal, it said. Ukraine, however, has denied that the nuclear plant had fallen to Russia.
Also read: India’s abstention on Ukraine resolution risks its democratic stature before the world