No longer interested in NATO: Ukraine

Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he is no longer pressing for membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership for his country, reports AFP. "NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine," he told in an interview. "The alliance is afraid of controversial things, and confrontation with Russia," he added.

Zelensky said he did not want to be the President of a "country which is begging for something on its knees".

Russia has often said that it did not want Ukraine to join NATO. Ukraine's quest for the members of the military alliance of western nations, is said to be one of the reasons why Russia invaded its neighbour on February 24. Putin has described the invasion as a "special military operation" aimed at dislodging the "neo-Nazis" ruling Ukraine.

During the interview, Zelensky said he was "open to discussing the status of the two breakaway pro-Russian domains of Donetsk and Lugansk". Russia insisted that Donetsk and Lugansk were independent republics just before Putin's troops invaded Ukraine.

"I am talking about security guarantees," he said. "These two regions have not been recognised by anyone but Russia. But we can discuss and find a compromise on how these territories will live on."

Zelensky urged Putin to start a dialogue instead of "living in the information bubble without oxygen".