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What did Kyiv do in early April 2021?
Summary
Two developments in the first days of April 2021 showed the Ukrainian leadership acting on security and domestic policy at once.
What was Ukraine's political agenda in the days leading up to 9 April 2021? It had two strands: a security appeal abroad and a legislative step at home.
On 6 April 2021, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on NATO to hasten Ukraine's accession to the alliance. He framed the request as a response to a growing build-up of Russian troops and military hardware on the country's borders. He also asked for help in ending the ongoing conflict in the Donbas with pro-Russian separatists.
On 7 April 2021, the Verkhovna Rada voted to legalise the use of medical cannabis products, a domestic measure unrelated to the security appeal.
Taken together, the two events show Kyiv pursuing its parliamentary business while pressing its Western partners over the military situation near its borders. The appeal to NATO tied Ukraine's long-term aim of membership directly to the immediate pressure of the Russian build-up and the unresolved war in the east.
