Zelenskyy says NATO offer for Ukraine-controlled territory could end ‘hot stage’ of war

At their summit in Washington in July, the 32 members announced that Ukraine was on an “irreversible” path to membership.

However, one obstacle to progress is the view that Ukraine’s borders will need to be clearly demarcated before it can join, so that there is no mistaking where the alliance’s mutual defense pact will take effect.

“You can’t give an invitation to just one part of one country,” the Ukrainian president said in an excerpt of the interview with Sky News, dubbed by the British broadcaster.

“Why? Because then you will admit that Ukraine is only this territory of Ukraine, and the other is Russia.”

According to the Ukrainian constitution, Ukraine cannot recognize territory occupied by Russia as Russian.

“So legally, by law, we have no right to recognize the occupied territory as the territory of Russia,” he said.

Since the start of the war in 2022, Russia has expended massive amounts of weapons and lives to make small but steady territorial gains in the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine it already controls in eastern and southern Ukraine.

“If we want to stop the hot stage of the war, we must take under the umbrella of NATO the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control. This is what we need to do, quickly. And then Ukraine can take back the other part of its territory diplomatically,” he said.

The invitation for Ukraine to join NATO is one of the key points of Zelensky’s “victory plan”, which he presented to Western allies and the Ukrainian people in October. The plan is seen as a way for Ukraine to strengthen its position in negotiations with Moscow.

Earlier this week, new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance “must go further” to support Ukraine in its fight against a Russian invasion.

Military aid to Kiev and steps towards an end to the war are expected to be high on the agenda when the foreign ministers of NATO member states meet in Brussels for a two-day meeting starting on December 3.

However, any decision for Ukraine to join the military alliance would require a longer process and the agreement of all member states.

There is also uncertainty about President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy stance. While Trump promised on the campaign trail to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine within a day, he has not publicly discussed how that might happen.

Trump also announced Wednesday that Keith Kellogg, an 80-year-old highly decorated retired three-star general, would serve as his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

In April, Kellogg wrote that “ending the Russian-Ukrainian war will require strong ‘America First’ leadership to reach a peace agreement and immediately end hostilities between the two warring parties.”

Meanwhile, during his only campaign debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump twice refused to directly answer a question about whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war – raising fears that Kiev could be forced to accept unfavorable terms in any negotiations.

Zelensky’s statement comes as Ukraine faces increasing pressure along the 1,000-kilometer front line. In its latest report, the Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said on Saturday that Russian forces had recently advanced near Kupyansk, in Toretsk and near Pokrovsk and Velika Novosilka, a key logistics route for the Ukrainian military.

Ukraine’s air force said on Saturday that the country had been attacked by ten Russian drones, eight of which were shot down over Kyiv, Cherkassy, ​​Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions. One drone returned to Russian-occupied territory, while the last drone disappeared from radar, often a sign of the use of electronic defenses.

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that 11 Ukrainian drones had been shot down by the country’s air defense systems. Both Sochi Mayor Andrey Proshunin and the head of Russia’s Dagestan region, Sergey Melikov, both in southwestern Russia, said drones were destroyed in their regions overnight. No casualties were reported.

On Friday, Ukraine’s president announced a series of changes to the military leadership, saying changes in personnel management were needed to improve the situation on the battlefield.

General Mykhailo Drapatiy, who led the defense of Kharkiv during Russia’s new offensive against Ukraine’s second-largest city this year, has been named the new chief of Ukraine’s ground forces. Oleg Apostol was appointed as the new Deputy Commander-in-Chief in charge of improving military training.

Commander-in-Chief Alexander Sirsky also announced on Friday that he would reinforce units in Donetsk, Pokrovsk and Kurakhovo with additional reserves, ammunition, weapons and military equipment.