Ukraine will not breach its own constitution to join NATO

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Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk asserted, on Monday, that Ukraine will not amend its constitution to remove the provision allowing it to join the NATO alliance.

"We will not do it. Changing the constitution is not and never will be a goal in itself," Stefanchuk said as quoted by Ukrayinska Pravda online newspaper.

On his account, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lately said he will no longer be pressing for NATO membership for Ukraine.

Regarding joining NATO, Zelensky said that he does not want to be the President of a "country which is begging something on its knees" - this comes especially after NATO abandoned its empty promises regarding Ukraine's defense against Russia.

Russia sees NATO expansion as a threat, especially that, over the years, the Cold War-era alliance expanded eastward, putting Russian interests at risk. 

For Ukraine to join NATO would mean NATO military bases at Russia's doorstep, which was one of the reasons for Moscow's operation in Ukraine.

In an interview with ABC, Zelensky, addressing the Russian compromises, said he was open to dialogue. "I'm talking about security guarantees," he said, stressing that these two regions "have not been recognized by anyone but Russia, these pseudo republics. But we can discuss and find the compromise on how these territories will live on."

"What is important to me is how the people in those territories are going to live who want to be part of Ukraine, who in Ukraine will say that they want to have them in," Zelensky said. "So the question is more difficult than simply acknowledging them."

"This is another ultimatum and we are not prepared for ultimatums. What needs to be done is for President Putin to start talking, start the dialogue instead of living in the informational bubble without oxygen."