Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he is ready to give up on demands for NATO membership in exchange for security guarantees from the United States and Europe, in a move aimed at advancing peace talks in Berlin.
US president Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner have pushed Ukraine to accept painful concessions, including ceding frontline territory to Russia, ahead of talks with Zelenskiy and Ukraine’s European allies on the White House plan to end Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine has admitted that it was unlikely to join NATO in the foreseeable future due to strong opposition from Russia, which has long demanded that the transatlantic alliance pledge to halt its eastward expansion as a condition for ending the war.
But Zelenskiy told reporters on Sunday that Ukraine still requires security guarantees from the US and Europe, similar to NATO’s Article 5 clause of mutual protection for any member under attack.