Ukraine Will Persist with NATO Goal, Zelenskiy Says as Receives Scholz

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine February 14, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine February 14, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
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Ukraine Will Persist with NATO Goal, Zelenskiy Says as Receives Scholz

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine February 14, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attend a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine February 14, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday his country would continue to seek membership of the NATO transatlantic military alliance despite pressure to cede that aspiration to avoid war with Russia.

Ukraine's envoy to Britain had suggested Kyiv may reconsider its NATO bid but later backtracked while acknowledging concessions could be on offer amid Western warnings of a potentially imminent Russian invasion.

The Kremlin, which has more than 100,000 soldiers massed on Ukraine's border, denies planning to invade the former Soviet state, but says it could take unspecified "military-technical" action unless demands are met.

Those include promises from NATO never to admit Ukraine and to withdraw forces from Eastern Europe.

"Today, many journalists and many leaders are hinting a little to Ukraine that it is possible not to take risks, not to constantly raise the issue of future membership in the alliance, because these risks are associated with the reaction of the Russian Federation," said Zelenskiy at a joint news conference with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Kyiv.

"I believe that we should move along the path we have chosen."

Scholz said it was strange Russia should raise this issue anyhow given it was not immediately on the agenda.

'By your side'

He told reporters he saw "no reasonable justification" for Russia's border buildup, and that Moscow should accept offers to discuss European security.

Scholz's trip was part of a flurry of diplomacy to de-escalate the crisis through dialogue and the threat of sanctions. On Tuesday, Scholz will fly to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The chancellor has ratcheted up engagement in the Ukraine crisis over the past week after critics accused him of lack of leadership and mixed signals in one of Europe's worst security crises in decades.

"Germany stands right by your side," he said on Monday, underscoring that the country was Ukraine's biggest financial backer and announcing a new credit of 150 million euros ($170 million).

Ukrainian officials have publicly criticized Germany for refusing to sell weapons to Kyiv - Berlin argues it cannot due to its bloody 20th century history - and over reluctance to pull the plug on a controversial Russian-German gas pipeline project.

Ukraine as well as Western allies argue the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is built but not yet operational, would enable Russia to cut Ukraine out of Europe's energy supply and make it more vulnerable to Russian invasion.

In recent weeks, Scholz has toughened his rhetoric on the cost to Russia of any new attack on Ukraine. But he has not vowed to end Nord Stream 2 or linked it to potential sanctions.



ICC Warrants are Binding, EU Cannot Pick and Choose, Borrell Says

23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
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ICC Warrants are Binding, EU Cannot Pick and Choose, Borrell Says

23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)

European Union governments cannot pick and choose whether to execute arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against two Israeli leaders and a Hamas commander, the EU's foreign policy chief said on Saturday.

The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged crimes against humanity.

All EU member states are signatories to the ICC's founding treaty, called the Rome Statute.

Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.

"The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It's not optional," Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.

Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.

"It would be very funny that the newcomers have an obligation that current members don't fulfil," he told Reuters.

The United States rejected the ICC's decision and Israel said the ICC move was antisemitic.

"Every time someone disagrees with the policy of one Israeli government - (they are) being accused of antisemitism," said Borrell, whose term as EU foreign policy chief ends this month.

"I have the right to criticize the decisions of the Israeli government, be it Mr Netanyahu or someone else, without being accused of antisemitism. This is not acceptable. That's enough."

Israel's 13-month campaign in Gaza has killed about 44,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly all the enclave's population while creating a humanitarian crisis, Gaza officials say.

In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".

The warrant for Masri lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Israel says it has killed Masri.