No one has offered us NATO membership for one or another part of Ukraine. The fact is that this is a solution that will end the hot stage of the war, because we can simply grant NATO membership to the part of Ukraine that is under our control, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with Sky News. He noted that “this proposal has never been considered by Ukraine because no one has ever officially proposed it to us.”
President Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky He was interviewed by Sky News correspondent Stuart Ramsay. He was asked to comment on media reports that one of the president-elect's plans USA Donald Trump at the end of the war with Russia may be that Kiev will give it back the lands that Moscow has taken over in exchange for Ukraine's accession to NATO.
– No one has offered us NATO membership for one or another part of Ukraine. The fact is that this is a solution that will end the hot stage of the war, because we can simply grant NATO membership to the part of Ukraine that is under our control, Zelensky said.
– But the invitation must be extended to Ukraine within the borders recognized by the international community. You cannot extend an invitation to only one part of the country, he added. According to him, “you cannot invite only one part of the country” because “according to the law you have no right to recognize the occupied territory as Russian territory.”
“If we want to stop the hot phase of the war”
– If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we must bring the territory of Ukraine under our control under the NATO umbrella, Zelensky said. – This is what we need to do quickly. And then Ukraine can regain the second part of its territory diplomatically, argued the Ukrainian leader.
He noted that “this proposal has never been considered by Ukraine because no one has ever officially proposed it to us.”
Ukraine's president said a ceasefire was needed to “guarantee that Putin will not return” to occupy more Ukrainian territory. At the same time, in Zelensky's opinion, NATO should “immediately” cover “part of Ukraine” because “otherwise Putin will return.”
Sky News, in an editorial note in the interview, said Zelensky “suggests that the 'hot phase' of the war in Ukraine could end in exchange for NATO membership, if that is offered – even if occupied lands are not immediately returned.”
“He seemed to accept that the occupied eastern parts of the country would not be covered by such an agreement for now,” the British station wrote on its website. According to Sky News, this interview was “the first time Zelensky suggested a ceasefire agreement that would include Russian control over Ukrainian territory.”
The Ukrainian leader has so far suggested only once that the territories of the country controlled by Moscow could be annexed to Russia, but only after a free and fair referendum. In July this year, he said this in an interview with the French daily “Le Monde”. However, he noted that Kiev would have to regain these lands in order to hold such a vote.
In September 2022, Russia unilaterally announced the annexation of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhya oblasts after referenda that were not internationally recognized. Earlier, in February 2014, Russia occupied Crimea and formally annexed it the following month.
Reuters: Ukraine's foreign minister calls on NATO countries
Earlier on Friday, Reuters reported that it had received a letter in which the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andriy Sybiha, appealed to NATO countries to extend an invitation to his country to join the Alliance during the meeting in Brussels next week.
Sybiha emphasized that, in the opinion of the Ukrainian authorities, “the invitation should be sent now.” “I appeal to you to support the decision to invite Ukraine to the Alliance at the meeting of foreign ministers of NATO countries on December 3-4, 2024.” – wrote Sybiha.
NATO has consistently declared that Ukraine will become a member state of the Alliance and its path to accession is “irreversible”, but it has not sent an official invitation to Kiev or set a time frame. Diplomats from member states believe that at this stage there is no consensus on inviting Ukraine. Such a decision would require the consent of all 32 Alliance countries.
Main photo source: PAP/Abaca