The chief of staff of the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Stian Jenssen, said that Ukraine could join NATO in exchange for territories seized by the Russian Federation.
“I think that one of the solutions could be Ukraine’s giving up territory and getting NATO membership in exchange for it,” Jenssen said.
He said that discussions are already ongoing about the future status of Ukraine in the context of the Alliance after the war. In particular, options are being handed out with the refusal of Kyiv from part of the territory.
“I’m not saying that this is how it should be. But it could be a plausible solution,” the chief of staff of the NATO Secretary General explained.
However, he said that it was Ukraine “that should decide when and under what conditions it wants to negotiate.”
Reaction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
At the same time, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleg Nikolenko, said that talk of Ukraine joining NATO in exchange for giving up part of Ukrainian territories is absolutely unacceptable.
“We have always proceeded from the fact that the Alliance, like Ukraine, does not trade territories. The conscious or unconscious participation of NATO officials in the formation of a narrative about the possibility of Ukraine renouncing its territories plays into the hands of Russia,” he wrote on Facebook .
Nikolenko noted that for the sake of Euro-Atlantic security, it is necessary to discuss ways to accelerate the victory of Ukraine and gain full membership in NATO.
“We are determined to continue fruitful cooperation with the NATO Secretariat to achieve these goals,” he stressed.
The reaction of the Office of the President
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the President’s Office, said that such statements are attempts to preserve world order and establish a “bad world.” He noted that in the future Russia would not refuse to transfer the war to other generations.
“Obviously, if Putin does not suffer a crushing defeat, the political regime in Russia does not change, and war criminals are not punished, the war will definitely return with increased appetites in Russia,” he wrote on Twitter.
Podolyak believes that attempts to maintain world order and establish a “bad peace” because of Putin’s triumph will not bring peace to the world, but will bring shame and war.
Ukraine’s entry into NATO and the Alliance’s summit in Vilnius
Ukraine, despite expectations, did not receive a direct invitation to NATO from the allies at the summit in Vilnius. As NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg explained, Ukraine will receive an invitation when “all allies agree and the conditions are met . ” However, the declaration does not specify the conditions that must be met.
Before the NATO summit, President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the Alliance for being indecisive about Ukraine. He stated that it is “unprecedented and absurd” when there is no time frame for both the invitation and Ukraine’s membership.
However, Zelensky later said that he understood that Ukraine would not be able to become a member of the Alliance while the war with Russia continued on its territory. United States President Joe Biden also does not see the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO until the war is over.
Source : RBC