Ukraine has long been moving towards NATO membership but, as in many other issues of sovereign choice, our state is being opposed on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, Ukrinform reported.

"The NATO issue is one of those that put pressure on Ukraine. The main issue is Ukraine's independence and its independent choice in any issues, and Ukraine has been fighting for its right to do so for many years," he said.

Zelensky said that Ukraine has chosen the course of NATO membership for its security and has been moving in that direction for a long time, but the distance to the Alliance is not shrinking.  "And this is not a philosophical question, but there are specific reasons - because of the opposition from both Russia, which does not want Ukraine to be a member of NATO, and some member countries of the Alliance," Zelensky told reporters.

At the same time, Zelensky said that Russia is currently using NATO issues as an excuse for why their troops are standing on Ukrainian borders and some European countries are playing along with them in this.