Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday called on NATO to provide guaranteed security to parts of Ukraine controlled by Kiev to “prevent the heated phase of the war.”
Zelensky also said he would be willing to wait to get back about a fifth of his country, which has been seized by Russian forces, if such a deal could provide security for the rest of Ukraine and end the fighting. Can do.
The comments came amid rising tensions in the nearly three-year war.
Russia has threatened to attack government buildings in Kiev this week and launch a massive airstrike on Ukraine’s energy sector – in response to Ukraine firing US and British-supplied missiles on Russian territory. Is.
“If we want to stop the heated phase of the war, we must bring under NATO umbrella the area of ​​Ukraine that is under our control,” Zelensky told Britain’s Sky News. According to a voiceover translation of his comments from Ukrainian to English.
“We need to do this swiftly, and then Ukraine can get back the other part of its territory diplomatically,” he said.
Talk of a possible ceasefire or peace deal has intensified since Donald Trump won the US presidential election earlier this month.
Republicans have criticized US aid to Kiev and claimed it could stop the conflict within hours without warning.
Russia controls about 18 percent of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, including the Crimea peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Since launching an invasion in 2022, Moscow has laid claim to four more eastern and southern regions of Ukraine – Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhia – even though it does not have full control over them.
Kiev has repeatedly refused to cede territory in exchange for peace, while Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded Ukrainian forces cede more land.
‘Guarantee’
Zelensky stressed that any proposal to join NATO should be extended to Ukraine as a whole, but his comments about the “NATO umbrella” suggest he may accept the alliance’s practical safeguards, such as Article Five. The collective defense clause can only be extended to territory controlled by Kiev. ,
Such a system would be necessary to ensure that Russia does not attack again in the future, he said.
“If we talk about a ceasefire, (we) need guarantees that Putin will not return,” Zelensky said in English.
Putin has previously told Kiev to abandon its NATO ambitions if it wants a peace deal.
As conflict escalated on the battlefield, Zelensky has held several phone calls in recent days with Western leaders — including Britain’s Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with Ukraine’s foreign minister on Friday and briefed him on “U.S. goals of enduring support for Ukraine,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Joe Biden’s administration has increased its support for Kiev since Trump won the election, transferring more weapons and allowing Ukraine to fire long-range missiles at Russian territory.
That move sparked a furious reaction in Moscow, with Putin approving the firing of a new hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro and threatening to attack government targets in Kiev in response.
Zelensky on Friday appointed a new Land Forces commander, Mykhailo Drapati, to strengthen the army’s leadership.
Drapati had previously led forces in the northeastern Kharkiv sector, defending against a surprise new Russian offensive earlier this year.
Defense Minister Rustam Umerov said, “These personnel decisions are aimed at strengthening our army, increasing its combat readiness, and introducing new management approaches.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
