Kyiv's April 2021: medical cannabis vote and a call to NATO
A look back at two political developments reported in Ukraine in the days leading up to 8 April 2021.
What was Ukraine's political agenda as of 8 April 2021? Two developments from the preceding days stood out: a parliamentary vote on medical cannabis and a presidential appeal to NATO.
On 7 April 2021, the Verkhovna Rada voted to legalise the use of medical cannabis products.
A day earlier, on 6 April 2021, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on NATO to hasten Ukraine's accession to the military 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 the alliance to help end the ongoing conflict in the Donbas with pro-Russian separatists.
Taken together, the two items showed domestic legislation and security diplomacy moving in parallel in Kyiv in the first week of April 2021.
