Ukraine has given up its desire to join NATO in exchange for security guarantees from the West as a compromise to end the war with Russia, its president said on December 14 Volodymyr Zelensky, on the eve of talks with the American envoys that will be held in Berlin for two days, as reported by the Beta agency.
That move fulfills one of Russia's war goals, although Kiev has so far been strongly opposed to ceding territory to Russia, Reuters reports.
Today, Zelensky stated that the security guarantees of the United States of America (USA), the European Union (EU) and other partners, instead of membership in NATO, are a compromise from the Ukrainian side.
NATO is a guarantee of security
"From the very beginning, Ukraine's desire was to join NATO, these are real security guarantees. Some partners from the US and Europe did not support this direction," he told reporters.
Zelensky stated that "today, bilateral security guarantees from Ukraine and the USA, as well as from European colleagues and other countries - Canada, Japan - represent an opportunity to prevent another Russian invasion."
"And that is already a compromise on our part," he said, adding that security guarantees should be legally binding.
Putin's request
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine officially renounce NATO membership and withdraw its army from about 10 percent of the territory of Donbass, as well as that Ukraine should be a neutral country.
Zelensky earlier asked for a "dignified peace" and assurances that Russia would not attack Ukraine again, as he prepared to meet US envoys and European allies in Berlin to end the war that has lasted since February 2022. The special envoys of US President Donald Trump (Trump), Steve Witkoff (Steve Witkoff) and Jared Kushner (Jared Kushner) arrived in Germany earlier today to talk with Zelensky and European officials.
Zelensky arrives in Berlin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Berlin today, where he is supposed to meet with American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, in the continuation of talks on the possibilities of ending the war in Ukraine, while tomorrow he is supposed to talk with European leaders.
While fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine continues, Zelensky is scheduled to meet tomorrow with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who will also host other European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as well as NATO and European Union officials, France Press reports.
On the eve of the Berlin meetings, Zelensky said that he hoped that the United States of America would rather support the idea of "freezing" the current front line than Moscow's demand that the entire Donbas region be handed over to it.
The fairest option
"The fairest possible option is to 'stay where we are,'" Zelensky told reporters in an online briefing. He added that he knows that Moscow does not look favorably on the idea, but he would like the US to support Kiev on this issue.
Ukrainian officials recently announced that they sent Washington a revised draft of the peace plan that the US insists on, and according to Zelensky, he has not received any response to Ukrainian objections, although he has received certain signals and will be "ready for a dialogue that begins today."
Europeans and Ukrainians are asking the US to provide "security guarantees" before Kiev enters negotiations on any territorial concessions.
According to the latest version of the US plan, Ukraine should join the European Union as early as the beginning of 2027, as a high-ranking official familiar with the contents of the document, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP.
Source: Beta/FoNet
