Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday night that he was willing to cede territory to Russia to end the war for the first time on condition that Ukraine is admitted to NATO “fast”. The Mail has more.
In an interview with Sky News, the Ukrainian President suggested he was prepared to end the “hot phase” of the war in exchange for membership of the bloc.
He said if the Ukrainian territory he controls was taken “under the NATO umbrella”, he could return the rest, which is currently under Russian occupation, in a “diplomatic way”.
Zelensky has previously suggested that the war would not end until his country is returned to its internationally recognised borders.
“If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we need to take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control,” Zelensky said.
“We need to do it fast. And then on the [occupied] territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way.”
The Ukrainian leader was answering questions on what President-elect Donald Trump’s desire to end the war would mean for his country.
It has been reported that one of the Republican’s plans to achieve this would involve Kyiv ceding the land taken by Russia in exchange for Ukraine’s Nato membership.
Mr. Zelensky’s concessions follow a series of disappointments on the battlefield for Ukraine. Russia has taken six times as much Ukrainian territory in 2024 as it did last year.
And the pace of the Kremlin’s advances has forced Ukraine to send thousands of reservists to reinforce vulnerable areas in the east.
The Kremlin’s so-called ‘meat grinder’ tactics have resulted in Russia’s daily casualty figures breaking 2,000 for the first time, according to figures released on Friday.
Troops are ordered to charge at gunpoint towards Ukrainian defensive positions, leading to territorial gains but increasingly high losses through death, injury and fleeing from the frontline.
Zelensky’s comments also come after an alliance chief assured last month that Ukraine will become a NATO member in the future – but was unable to say when the country might join.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte reiterated on October 17th that the war-torn nation’s place is among NATO’s ranks.
“Ukraine will be a member of NATO in the future,” Rutte said. “The question is exactly about the ‘when’. I cannot answer that now.”
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.