Kyiv's NATO appeal and Moscow's warning, April 2021

What did Kyiv ask of NATO in the days leading up to 8 April 2021, and how did Moscow answer?

The exchange began on 6 April 2021. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the alliance to hasten his country's accession. He framed the request as a response to a growing build-up of Russian troops and military hardware on Ukraine's borders. He also said NATO could help bring an end to the ongoing conflict in the Donbas with pro-Russian separatists.

Moscow's reply came on 7 April 2021. After Ukraine urged NATO to speed up its membership application, Russia warned that Ukraine joining the alliance would exacerbate the Donbass conflict. The two positions were set against each other: Kyiv presented closer ties with NATO as part of the answer to the war, while Moscow presented them as a way of making it worse.

A separate vote in the Rada

Not all of the news from Ukraine in those days concerned security. On 7 April 2021, the Verkhovna Rada voted to legalise the use of medical cannabis products. The vote was a domestic matter and was reported separately from the NATO exchange.

Seen from 8 April 2021, the picture was of a government pressing its case abroad, a parliament legislating at home, and two neighbours trading public statements over the same conflict in the Donbas.