Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready on Friday to accept NATO protection guarantees limited initially to the territories controlled by Kyiv in order to “end the hot phase of the war” led by Russia.
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Nearly three years after the launch of a large-scale offensive by Vladimir Putin, the planned return of Donald Trump to the White House in January, in a context of escalation marked by Moscow’s firing of a powerful new missile towards Ukraine, revived questions about the possibility of a ceasefire.
Volodymyr Zelensky suggested he was willing to wait before reclaiming areas occupied by the Russian army – almost a fifth of the country – if such a deal could provide security for the rest of Ukraine and end in combat.
“If we want to end the hot phase of the war, we must bring the territory of Ukraine that we control under NATO umbrella,” the president told British channel Sky News, according to a translation in voice off of his words in English.
“This is what we need to do quickly, and then Ukraine can get the other part of its territory back through diplomatic channels,” he added.
Kyiv has so far always ruled out ceding territories in exchange for peace, while Vladimir Putin demands that the Ukrainian army withdraw from more territories and refuses any accession of his adversary to NATO.
Moscow controls about 18% of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, including the Crimean peninsula which it annexed in 2014. Russia has also annexed the Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, although it does not control them. not entirely.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have made territorial gains at a speed not seen since the start of 2022 against a weakened Ukrainian army.
And the conflict has recently intensified with massive strikes on territories controlled by Kyiv, with Russian President Vladimir Putin threatening to hit decision-making centers in the Ukrainian capital with his new “Orechnik” missile in response to the missile launch. supplied by the United States and the United Kingdom to Russian territory.
Donald Trump criticized American aid to Kyiv and claimed during his campaign that he could end the conflict in a few hours, without saying how.
Guarantees
Mr. Zelensky insisted that any offer of NATO membership must be made to the whole of Ukraine, but his comments suggest he may accept that alliance protection, such as collective defense clause of article 5, only applies to the territory controlled by Kyiv.
“If we talk about a ceasefire [nous avons besoin de] guarantees that Putin will not return,” Mr. Zelensky said in English.
Vladimir Putin has already asked Kyiv to abandon its ambitions to join NATO if it wants a peace agreement.
In the context of an escalation of the conflict for two weeks, Mr. Zelensky had a series of telephone calls with Western leaders, notably the British Keir Starmer, the French Emmanuel Macron and the German Olaf Scholz.
On this occasion, Emmanuel Macron “condemned with the greatest firmness Russia’s indiscriminate strikes which continue to intensify against cities, against civilians and against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure”, indicated the French presidency .
“These strikes, the increased cooperation with North Korea, and the irresponsible rhetoric that accompanies them, are part of an unacceptable logic of escalation on the part of Russia,” added Mr. Macron.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga on Friday to brief him on “U.S. goals for sustained support for Ukraine,” the department spokesperson said. of State Matthew Miller.
Joe Biden’s administration has stepped up its support for Kyiv since Mr. Trump won the election, transferring more weapons and allowing Ukraine to fire long-range missiles into Russian territory.
