Zelenskyy says Ukraine is willing to forego NATO membership

In a major turnaround in policy, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that Ukraine will give up its aspirations to join the NATO alliance in exchange for Western security guarantees, as a compromise to end the war with Russia. Zelenskyy made the announcement ahead of talks on the proposed peace plan with American negotiators in Berlin.

On Sunday Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in Berlin that from the outset Ukraine's wish was to join NATO in a bid to get true security guarantees, but added that some partners from the US and Europe did not support that wish. As a result he said that Kiev was willing to make a compromise and rely on bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the United States, which would offer Article 5-like guarantees, as well as security guarantees from European partners and countries such as Canada and Japan, in an effort to ensure there would be no additional Russian attacks in the future.

Zelenskyy also said that the prospect of achieving a peace agreement was significant. He also said that he had not received any response from Washington regarding the response to the American peace plan, which was jointly crafted by Ukraine and the European trio of Great Britain, Germany and France. Zelenskyy noted that their plan would not be to the liking of everyone as it requires of both sides numerous compromises. However, the plan Zelenskyy presented appeared to by another form of a frozen conflict, which would be followed by diplomatic negotiations following a ceasefire agreement, something Russia has repeatedly rejected and seemingly has no interest in agreeing to.

Meanwhile, speaking in Germany three days ago NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte claimed that Russia could attack a NATO member state within the next five years, arguing that Russia is already escalating its covert campaign against NATO countries. As a result he said that NATO member states must be prepared for the scale of war endured by our grandparents or great-grandparents. The Kremlin today responded by saying that Rutte's remarks were irresponsible and showed that he truly did not understand the devastation caused by the Second World War.

Source: HRT