Russia does not, not to have right to veto Ukraine's accession to NATO – Poroshenko

KYIV. Dec 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Fifth president of Ukraine, leader of the European Solidarity party and MP from the eponymous faction Petro Poroshenko named the key positions of Ukraine ahead of the talks between President of the U.S. Joseph Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to the press service of European Solidarity, Poroshenko believes that U.S. President Joe Biden is devoted to freedom and democracy, a very competent and professional person who loves Ukraine very much and is very well versed in Ukrainian issues.

"And in these conditions, the position that will be expressed during this conversation is very important for Ukraine […] Point number one. What we held to for five years of my presidency is nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," the MP said.

He said that it is very important that both European and American allies, both before and after the conversation, clearly coordinate their actions with the Ukrainian authorities, the Ukrainian state, and the Ukrainian people.

"The second position. Russia does not and will not have the right to veto Ukraine’s accession to NATO, NATO’s expansion to the east. Moreover, this issue is not an issue that is important for Ukraine itself. This is definitely a test whether NATO exists today or not. If Putin will be able to dictate freedom to NATO, to put forward ultimatums to NATO, then there is no point in the existence of NATO. I am very glad that Putin received a very powerful and ironclad answer in the sense that Russia will not put forward any ultimatums," Poroshenko said.

According to him, the initiative of the Kremlin and Putin on the so-called European security zone can begin to be considered only when Russia returns to the zone of action of international law, from which it left from the first hours of the seizure of Crimea and aggression against our state in Donbas.

"A prerequisite for any negotiations on a security zone is the resumption of Ukrainian sovereignty and the liberation of the occupied Crimea and Donbas, their return to Ukraine," the leader of European Solidarity said.

He also pointed to the need to restore the Normandy format, since "the presence of strong allies behind them" in the person of Germany and France will make Ukraine and the Ukrainian negotiating position "stronger".

"No tete-a-tete, no ‘get-togethers’ that are harmful and dangerous for Ukraine," the fifth president said.

Poroshenko added that Ukraine would welcome the appointment of a U.S. special representative to coordinate work in the Normandy format, and also called Russia’s fulfillment of all points of the Minsk agreements an important condition for negotiating.