Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko says Ukraine ”must be a member of NATO” in order to protect itself from Russia.

Tymoshenko, who’s running in the May 25 presidential election, says while only a minority of Ukrainians supported NATO membership before, recent Russian aggression has forced the public to think differently.

While Tymoshenko had not previously backed the idea publicly, she and other Ukrainian politicians have now ramped up the rhetoric as pro-Russia militias seized government buildings across the eastern part of the country.