NATO Secretary General Mark Rute told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday that "your security is important to ours", during his first visit to Kyiv since becoming the Alliance's Secretary General.
Rutte also reiterated NATO's promise that Ukraine would one day become a member of the military alliance, but Zelensky said he wanted Western allies to urgently provide the active military support some of them have given to Israel in its fight against Iran, Reuters reported.
"Your security is important to ours, and your fight for freedom reflects our core principles and values," Rute said at a joint press conference, stressing that his first foreign visit as head of NATO shows the alliance's strong support for Kiev.
"Ukraine is closer to NATO than ever before and will continue on that path until it secures NATO membership," said Rutte, the former prime minister of the Netherlands, who took up his new post on Tuesday.
Zelensky has said he wants to see Kiev's allies shoot down missiles and drones used by Russia in attacks on Ukraine, as some of Israel's allies did when Tehran fired missiles at Israel this week.
"We are working with them, at the moment they are not ready (to do that)," said Zelenski.
Zelensky also reiterated his appeal to Western allies to allow Ukraine to carry out strikes deep inside Russia with weapons supplied to them, saying they were "postponing" their decision.
"Without long-range weapons, we cannot stop Russia, which is using these weapons against us, destroying everything," he said.
Allowing Kiev to strike targets deep inside Russia would increase its ability to disrupt Russian logistics and chains of command. Ukraine's allies have so far refrained from such a move, fearing Russia's reaction, Reuters reminds.
Zelensky was asked about the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces earlier this week from the town of Vuhledar, the latest in a series of Russian battlefield conquests in eastern Ukraine.
"The lives (of soldiers) must be preserved because they are our people, citizens of Ukraine. That is why it is absolutely right for them to withdraw and save themselves," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, citing as one of the reasons Kiev's ambition to join NATO, which Moscow sees as a direct threat to its security.
In Kiev, Rute reaffirmed NATO's position that Moscow does not decide which country can or cannot join the alliance.
As Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Rutte previously approved the transfer of Dutch F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
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