Ukraine's Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna: 'Inviting Ukraine to NATO is element of deterring Russian aggression'

Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna talks to RBC- Ukraine about the latest NATO Summit in Washington .

She says Ukraine 's membership in NATO has been declared "irreversible" and is progressing toward membership in the European Union .

The most challenging phase of negotiations for EU membership is currently underway, she says.

Ukraine will listen to all allies and negotiate with each of the 32 NATO member states.

Ukraine 's NATO membership issue will not be removed from the agenda because the allies have determined this path is irreversible.

The invitation is also a decision that can be made at any moment, regardless of the summit.

Ukraine is within the borders of 1991 , a sovereign, independent country that joins NATO .

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is building neighborly relations with neighboring countries, including Poland , Slovakia , Hungary , the Czech Republic, Romania , and others.

My task is to create the prerequisites for making political decisions related to membership by 2024-2025 , ideally by the beginning of 2025 .

The issue of the rights of national minorities has become a subject of bilateral negotiations.