Ukraine expects invitation to join NATO, EU this year - Zelensky

MOSCOW/CHISINAU. June 1 (Interfax) - Ukraine needs to receive invitations to join NATO and the European Union as well as security guarantees on its path to the alliance as early as this year, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said.

"In summer, at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Ukraine needs to be unambiguously invited to become a member, it needs security guarantees on its path to NATO membership. We need a clear positive decision concerning our accession to the EU in the fall," Ukrainian media quoted Zelensky as saying at a European Political Community summit in Chisinau on Thursday.

"Ukrainians cannot see a clear positive response regarding [the country's] accession to the EU and NATO," Zelensky said. "And our hopes are growing increasingly remote. It's a shame that I have to express disappointment here," he said.

Ukraine expects a clear decision regarding its future NATO membership at the Vilnius summit on July 11-12. "We need a positive decision," he said.

"Positive decisions for Ukraine are positive decisions for the whole world, including for Moldova, in the long run for Georgia, and possibly for Belarus," Zelensky said.

He also called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transdniestria.