BERLIN: Ukraine has relinquished its ambition of joining the NATO military alliance in exchange for Western security guarantees as a compromise to end the war with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said ahead of talks with US envoys in Berlin.
The move marks a major shift for Ukraine, which has fought to join NATO as a safeguard against Russian attacks and has such an aspiration included in its constitution. It also meets one of Russia’s war aims, although Kyiv has so far held firm against ceding territory to Moscow. Zelenskiy said on Sunday that the US, and European and other partners’ security guarantees instead of NATO membership were a compromise on Ukraine’s side.
“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 said in answer to questions from reporters in a WhatsApp chat.
“Thus, today, bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the US, Article 5-like guarantees for us from the US, and security guarantees from European colleagues, as well as other countries — Canada, Japan — are an opportunity to prevent another Russian invasion,” Zelenskiy said. “And it is already a compromise from our part,” he said, adding that the security guarantees should be legally binding.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine officially renounce its NATO ambitions and withdraw troops from the about 10% of Donbas which Kyiv still controls. Moscow has also said that Ukraine must be a neutral country and that no NATO troops can be stationed in Ukraine.
Russian sources said earlier this year that Putin wants a “written” pledge by major Western powers not to enlarge the US-led NATO alliance eastwards - shorthand for formally ruling out membership to Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and other former Soviet republics.
Zelenskiy had earlier called for a “dignified” peace and guarantees that Russia would not attack Ukraine again as he prepared to meet US envoys and European allies in Berlin to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.
Under pressure from US President Donald Trump to sign a peace deal that initially backed Moscow’s demands, Zelenskiy accused Russia of dragging out the war through deadly bombings of cities and Ukraine’s power and water supplies.
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