– No one has suggested to us that this or that part of Ukraine becomes a member of NATO. The point is that this is a solution that ends the hot phase of the war, because we can only give NATO membership to the part of Ukraine that is under our control, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Sky News. He noted that “this proposal has never been considered by Ukraine, because no one has ever officially presented it to us.”
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky gave an interview to Sky News reporter Stuart Ramsay. He was asked to comment on media reports that one of US President-elect Donald Trump's plans to end the war with Russia might be to give Kiev land it owns in exchange for Ukraine joining NATO.
– No one has proposed to us that this or that part of Ukraine becomes a member of NATO. The fact is that this is a solution that will end the hot phase of the war, because we can only give NATO membership to the part of Ukraine that is under our control, Zelensky said.
– But the invitation should be sent to Ukraine within the boundaries recognized by the international community. You cannot invite 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 put the territory of Ukraine under our control under the umbrella of NATO,” Zelensky said. – This work needs to be done quickly. And then Ukraine can regain the second part of its territory through diplomatic means, said the leader of Ukraine.
He noted that “this proposal was never considered by Ukraine, because no one officially presented it to us.”
The president of Ukraine said that a ceasefire is needed to “guarantee that Putin does not return” to occupy more Ukrainian territories. Meanwhile, according to Zelensky, NATO should “immediately” cover the “part of Ukraine”, because “otherwise Putin will return”.
Sky News said in an editorial note for the interview that Zelensky “suggests that the 'hot phase' of the war in Ukraine could end in exchange for NATO membership, if offered – even if the occupied lands are not immediately returned.”
“He seemed to think that the occupied eastern parts of the country would not come under such a deal for now,” the British channel wrote on its website. According to Sky News, the interview “marks the first time Zelensky has proposed a ceasefire agreement that would include Russian control of Ukrainian territory.”
The leader of Ukraine has only once suggested that the territories of the country controlled by Moscow could join Russia, but only after a free and fair referendum. He said this in an interview with the French newspaper “Le Monde” in July of this year. But then he noted that Kyiv should take back these lands in order to hold such a vote.
In September 2022, Russia unilaterally announced the non-recognition of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhia regions after a national referendum. Earlier, in February 2014, Russia occupied Crimea and officially annexed it the following month.
Reuters: Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine invited NATO countries
On Friday, the Reuters news agency reported that it had received a letter in which the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sibiha asked the NATO countries to send an invitation to his country to join the Alliance at next week's meeting in Brussels.
Sibiha emphasized that, according to 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.” Sibikha wrote.
NATO has repeatedly announced that Ukraine will become a member of this alliance and that the path to its joining is “irreversible”, but it has not sent an official invitation to Kiev and has not set a time frame. Diplomats of the member states believe that at this stage there is no agreement on the invitation of Ukraine. For such a decision, the consent of all 32 countries of the union is required.
Main photo source: PAP/Abaca
