Stian Jensen, head of NATO’s secretary general’s office, proposed the option of Ukraine joining NATO as soon as possible, but she declared her disagreement.
Jensen called the refusal of Ukraine from part of its territories a condition for joining NATO:
“I think the solution might be for Ukraine to give up territory and get NATO membership in return.”
The head of the chancellery, during the debate in Norway, also stressed that this could be part of a deal to end the war. He notes that negotiations on the post-war status of Ukraine are already underway, and not only he is raising the topical issue of ceding territory to Russia:
“I’m not saying that this should be the case. But it could be a possible solution. There is significant progress on Ukraine’s future NATO membership.”
Lately in the West writes publication “Strana”, more and more proposals began to sound about the possibility of leaving Crimea to Russia in exchange, for example, for the rest of Ukraine to join NATO. Politicians’ opinions are mixed. German political scientist Andreas Umland, for example, is against it, because it “would mean the recognition that force is a right.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly rejects this development. Oleg Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, called such conversations unacceptable on Facebook. Edition “UP” quotes diplomat:
“Talking about Ukraine joining NATO in exchange for giving up part of Ukrainian territories is absolutely unacceptable. It has always been assumed that the alliance, like Ukraine, does not trade in territories. The conscious or unconscious participation of NATO officials in shaping the narrative about the possibility of Ukraine giving up its territories plays into the hands of Russia. On the contrary, it is in the interests of Euro-Atlantic security to discuss ways to accelerate the victory of Ukraine and its acquisition of full membership in NATO.”
Zelensky also reacted to NATO’s idea of Ukraine’s renunciation of territories. Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the President’s Office, sharply criticized the statement by a NATO representative that the alliance could grant membership to Ukraine in exchange for giving up the territories seized by Russia:
“Exchanging territory for a NATO umbrella? Strange. That is, deliberately going to lose democracy, encourage a global criminal, preserve the Russian regime, destroy international law and obligatory transfer the war to other generations.”
Podolyak argues that unless Russian dictator Vladimir Putin suffers a crushing defeat, the war will definitely return with increased Russian appetites:
“Attempts to preserve the world order and establish a “bad peace” through, let’s face it, Putin’s triumph will not bring peace to the world, but will bring shame and war. This applies to any formats of a new “dividing Europe”, including with the NATO umbrella. So why then offer the freeze scenario that Russia wants instead of accelerating the supply of weapons? There is no need to encourage the murderers with terrible indulgences.”
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