Ukraine seeks NATO invitation before Biden leaves office – envoy

This was stated by Nataliia Halibarenko, head of Ukraine's mission to NATO, in an interview with Reuters, as reported by Ukrinform.

"Our idea is that giving Ukraine an invitation at this moment is a political signal," the ambassador said.

According to Halibarenko, this would remove “a major bone of contention” between Kyiv and Moscow. "If we will say that the invitation is there, for the Russian Federation, it would be like a final verdict – so that's it, so you cannot raise the stakes using this topic anymore," she explained.

She added that Kyiv is not insisting on an immediate launch of membership talks, but believes that a formal invitation now would send a powerful message.

Asked when Ukraine would like the invitation to be issued, she replied: "The sooner the better."

As reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that obtaining an invitation to NATO is part of the Victory Plan.