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The Ukrainian president says Kiev has been left to fend for itself as NATO is "afraid" to give it any guarantees, Russian media outlet RT reported. "I asked them -- are you with us?" Volodymyr Zelensky said. "They answered that they are with us, but they don't want to take us into the alliance."

"I've asked 27 leaders of Europe, if Ukraine will be in NATO, I've asked them directly -- all are afraid and did not respond." "We were left by ourselves. Who is ready to go to war for us? Honestly, I don't see anybody. Who is ready to give Ukraine guarantees of NATO membership? Honestly, everybody is afraid," the president added, RT reported.

Accusing the West of leaving Ukraine to face Moscow alone, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday he was not afraid to negotiate an end to the Russian "invasion", but would need security guarantees to do so. Speaking in the early hours of the morning from Kiev, Zelensky said he had reached out to "partners" in the West to tell them that Ukraine's fate was at stake. In an address on Friday, Zelensky said he is open to talking about the possibility of a neutral status for Ukraine, but insisted that his country needs third-party guarantees, the report said.

"We are not afraid of Russia, we are not afraid to talk with Russia, talk about everything: security guarantees for our country and a neutral status. But we are not in NATO now -- what security guarantees will we have? Which countries will give them?" he said, before adding that there should be talks to bring an end to the Russian military offensive.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that "neutral status and rejection of hosting (offensive) weapons systems" are Putin's "red lines" for Ukraine and that the ball was now in Kiev's court. In the meanwhile, NATO and the US have made it clear that no troops will be sent, leaving Ukraine's military -- far inferior to Russia -- to hold off the assault alone.

Few expect it to emerge victorious from what is almost certain to be a prolonged, bloody, and vicious war, Daily Mail reported. NATO is expected to focus its efforts on stopping the war from spilling over into neighbouring countries, Daily Mail reported. Poland, a member of the alliance, shares an extensive land border with Ukraine. The Baltic states -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, also NATO members -- will now fear a Russian assault.

The alliance began moving its forces early Thursday, putting 100 warplanes on high alert in Europe whole moving more troops to the Baltics, the report said. Speaking in an emergency White House press conference, Biden called Putin a 'pariah' on the international stage and called on the West to stand up to the 'bully'. But he insisted the US would not be helping Ukraine with troops.

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