Zelensky seeks NATO shield for Ukraine as path to end war with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that a potential ceasefire agreement with Russia could be reached if NATO accepts Ukraine’s membership request, providing security for Ukrainian-held territories while leaving the return of seized regions to future diplomatic negotiations.

In an interview with Sky News that was published on Friday, Zelensky outlined his vision for ending the "hot phase" of the war and proposed that NATO extend its protective umbrella to the territories of Ukraine currently under its control, ensuring Kyiv's security while leaving the return of occupied regions for future negotiations, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

"If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we need to take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control," Zelensky told Sky News' chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay. "We need to do it fast. And then on the [occupied] territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way."

Zelensky said that NATO's invitation must acknowledge Ukraine's internationally recognized borders, even as parts of the eastern territories remain under Russian occupation. He also argued that such a move would serve as a critical safeguard against further aggression by Putin.

A ceasefire, Zelensky said in his interview, is needed to "guarantee that Putin will not come back" to acquire additional territory in Ukraine.

Zelensky also addressed reports suggesting that President-elect Donald Trump might propose a peace plan involving Ukraine's cession of occupied lands in exchange for NATO membership. He rejected any such concessions but expressed a willingness to collaborate with Trump on alternative solutions.

"I want to work with [Trump] directly because there are different voices from people around him. And that's why we need not to [allow] anybody around to destroy our communication," he said. "It will be not helpful and will be destructive. We have to try to find the new model. I want to share with him ideas and I want to hear from him."

The two leaders previously met in September in New York. Zelensky described his conversation with Trump as "very warm, good, constructive...It was a very good meeting and it was an important first step - now we have to prepare some meetings."

This is the first time Zelensky has publicly hinted at a ceasefire scenario that might temporarily exclude occupied regions. While Ukraine's military continues to resist Russian advances, Moscow has consolidated its hold over roughly 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, including parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia, expanding its claim on Ukrainian lands beyond Crimea, which Russia took in 2014.

News.Az