Zelenskyy talks about proposals to exchange territories for NATO membership
Photo: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Western officials promoting a deal in which Kyiv trades Russian-occupied territories for NATO membership did not consult Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.
He urged officials to address the issue directly, stating that people had never expressed this to him before and were afraid to do so, calling on them to put it on the table openly, not through a third party.
Zelenskyy said he was open to peace proposals from other countries as long as they were real and not aimed at undermining support for his plans.
He stated that if Brazil had a plan, it was good and that they had no objections to China’s proposal. However, he urged them not to cause division.
Joining NATO
According to a survey conducted by the Sociological Group Rating, the idea of Ukraine joining NATO within the limits of only those territories controlled by Ukraine is unacceptable to more than half of the respondents (53%). At the same time, 40% of respondents fully or rather support this idea.
In August 2023, NATO Secretary General's Chief of Staff Stefan Jensen said that Ukraine could allegedly join NATO by giving up the territories occupied by Russia. Jensen later said that his words were a mistake.
