Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said that Ukraine will not seek alternatives to joining NATO in its pursuit of genuine security guarantees.
Speaking during a meeting with media representatives in Kiev, Zelensky said NATO membership would open up opportunities for Ukraine in terms of funding and arms cooperation. He said Kyiv still needs 30 billion euros in loans from the European Union (EU) this year to cover its fiscal deficit, while also facing a 27-billion-U.S.-dollar shortfall in its defense budget.
"If we are brought under NATO's budget framework, we will be much stronger," he said.
Zelensky also said the window for a diplomatic end to the Ukraine crisis would likely extend from the end of this year to next summer, as campaigning for the U.S. presidential election is set to begin after that.
He said that U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are keen to secure a diplomatic victory, but that "it is difficult for them to get Russia to agree to end the war under conditions that include Kyiv not withdrawing from the Donbas region."
Zelensky says Ukraine will not seek alternatives to NATO membership
Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), the body responsible for maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, announced on Sunday that vessels violating Iranian protocols for transiting the waterway will face restrictions on their future passages.
It made the announcement in a post on social media platform X while listing some of the restrictions as "fines, detention, or confiscation."
The PGSA called on "cargo owners shipping to and from the Persian Gulf" to review the list of "Non-Compliant Vessels" on its website prior to chartering to avoid potential issues.
Meanwhile, Hassan Qashqavi, spokesman of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, said on Sunday that the committee has approved an article of a draft plan aimed at safeguarding security in the strait, under which the country will charge fees for the services it provides in the waterway, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
He said that the article was approved during the committee's Sunday meeting, saying based on it, fees will be charged for the navigation, environmental services, refueling under special conditions, insurance and safety services provided by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz on Feb. 28, barring safe passage of vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States following their joint strikes on Iranian territory.
Iran says violating vessels to face restrictions on future passages through Hormuz Strait
