Zelensky says he pressed Trump on Ukraine's NATO bid, cites failed security assurances

Ukraine's president said Thursday that he discussed the matter of Kyiv's NATO membership with Donald Trump, pressing him to support the bid as previous security assurances had failed.

Speaking at a news conference after a European Council meeting in Brussels, Zelensky said that during his conversation with Trump, he had referred to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum under which Russia, the UK, and the U.S. provided Ukraine with security assurances in return for it giving up its Soviet-era nuclear weapons.

Media reports have emerged suggesting that former President Trump, who is vying for another term in office in the upcoming Nov. 5 elections, is opposed to Ukraine joining the alliance.

Stressing that Ukraine signed the memorandum in exchange for guarantees of its territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders as of 1991, Zelensky questioned how the accord could be trusted if Russia was allowed to violate it.

He further argued that the memorandum failed to protect Ukraine, and that none of the nuclear-armed powers that signed it had suffered as a result.

Zelensky went on to say that he told Trump that a solution to this matter would be: "Either we resume having nuclear weapons, and then it will be a certain protection for us, or we should have some kind of alliance. Apart from NATO, we do not see any effective alliances."

"NATO countries are not at war ... That is why we choose NATO, not nuclear weapons. We choose NATO. And I believe Donald Trump heard me. He said: 'Your arguments are fair.' I think this is important," he added.

Zelensky said he also discussed Ukraine's NATO membership with U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is also running for the top office on the Democratic ballot.