Ukraine willing to drop ambitions to join Nato, Zelenskyy says | Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said before talks in Berlin that Ukraine was ready to give up its goals of joining NATO in exchange for security guarantees from the West.
The Ukrainian president announced the concession while flying to the German capital, where he began talks with Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner on efforts to end the war with Russia.
This move marks a major change for Ukraine, which is struggling to join NATO as a precaution against Russian attacks and has such a request in its constitution. Although Kiev has so far opposed the transfer of its territory to Moscow, it also meets one of Russia’s war objectives.
Zelenskyy met with US ambassadors in talks hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. A source said he made brief statements before leaving the two sides to negotiate. Other European leaders are also expected to hold talks in Germany on Monday.
Zelenskyy described the concession to NATO as a compromise.
“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 – adding that legally binding security guarantees from the US, Europe and other countries such as Canada and Japan could “prevent another Russian invasion”.
Vladimir Putin has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine formally abandon its NATO goals and withdraw its troops from the approximately 10% of Donbas that Kiev still controls. Moscow also said Ukraine should be a neutral country and no NATO troops could be stationed there.
Russian sources said earlier this year that Putin wanted a “written” commitment from major western powers not to expand the US-led NATO alliance eastward; this was shorthand for the formal denial of membership to Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and other former Soviet republics.
Zelenskyy had previously called for an “honourable” peace and guaranteed that Russia would not attack Ukraine again.
Under pressure from Trump to sign a peace deal that initially backed Moscow’s demands, Zelenskyy accused Russia of prolonging the war through deadly bombings of cities as well as Ukraine’s electricity and water supplies.
The dispatch of Witkoff, who has led talks with Ukraine and Russia over a U.S. peace proposal, appeared to be a sign that Washington sees a chance for progress nearly four years after Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine, Europe and the USA are looking at a 20-item plan, at the end of which a ceasefire will be achieved. He said Kiev had not held direct talks with Moscow.
He added that a ceasefire would be a fair option on existing fronts.
Britain, France and Germany are working to improve US proposals in a draft released last month that called for Kiev to give up more territory, abandon NATO goals and limit its armed forces.
European allies described this as a “critical moment” that could shape Ukraine’s future and sought to shore up Kiev’s finances by using frozen Russian central bank assets to finance Kiev’s military and civilian budget.
