Zelensky abandons plans for Ukraine to join NATO

MoscowVolodymyr Zelensky continues to take steps to demonstrate to Donald Trump that he is willing to compromise on some of his main demands to reach a peace agreement. In an unprecedented move, he has offered to allow Ukraine to forgo NATO membership if the United States and Europe provide security guarantees in return. According to the Ukrainian president, the Western allies should commit to a legally binding agreement with Kyiv under which it could receive military support in the event of a Russian attack. This would be a safeguard similar to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, which stipulates that NATO members will respond militarily to any aggression against one of its member states. Zelensky attributes this concession to the rejection by some countries of Ukraine's membership in the Alliance. "From the beginning, Ukraine's desire was to join NATO; these are real security guarantees. Some partners in the United States and Europe did not support that direction," he told reporters in a WhatsApp chat. Americans have always been convinced that Ukraine will not join NATO. Trump himself has stated this on several occasions. and the initial draft of the plan The peace agreement already contained that clause.

The Ukrainian leader's move came just before a new round of talks with White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner this Sunday in Berlin. The meeting lasted more than five hours, and both delegations agreed to continue negotiations on Monday. "The plan certainly won't please everyone. There are many compromises in one version or another of the plan," Zelensky had warned before the meeting began.

On paper, Ukraine's withdrawal from NATO should be welcomed in Moscow, as it is one of its central demands. However, the Kremlin has already warned that, despite not having read the new suggestions from Kyiv and Brussels to modify Trump's peace plan, they are "unlikely to be constructive." Vladimir Putin's foreign policy advisor, Yuri Uixakov has already anticipated "strong objections" from Russia and has made it clear that none of Zelensky's demands will be met.

Moscow demands not only that Kyiv be excluded from the Atlantic Alliance, but that this withdrawal be permanent. Zelensky has not clarified whether his withdrawal is temporary and whether, in the agreement, he intends to reserve the option of rejoining NATO should member countries eventually change their minds. Furthermore, the Kremlin's arguments reiterate that one of the objectives of the invasion is the "neutrality" of Ukraine and that Russia should have veto power over any security guarantees that involve military assistance. It has also repeatedly expressed its absolute rejection of the presence of international troops on Ukrainian territory, threatening to "immediately" make them a "legitimate target."

The Donbas Reef

In his conversation with journalists, Zelensky also admitted that the issue of control over Donbas remains far from resolved. The Ukrainian president insists that the "fair and feasible" option is to freeze the current front line and discuss the sovereignty of the disputed territories after a ceasefire. He also has many doubts about the initiative to create a demilitarized zone around the contact line because he doesn't know who would control it. "We believe there should only be a police mission and that troops should withdraw," he said. However, Russia has no intention of withdrawing its forces from Donetsk and demands that the Ukrainian army abandon the area it still controls and hand it over completely to Moscow.

Zelensky complains that the Trump administration is using arguments from Russian propaganda to pressure him into ceding territory. He cited the example of Kupyansk, a city in northeastern Ukraine, in the Kharkiv region, which Putin proclaimed as conquered three weeks ago, in the midst of discussions about the peace plan. The Ukrainian leader visited this municipality on Friday to demonstrate that this claim was false and that it was only intended to influence Washington's approach to the negotiations. "There is a lot of disinformation of this kind coming from the Russians. That is why I signaled to our American colleagues that not everything Russia says should be believed," Zelensky noted.

In any case, the situation on most fronts and in the rear is very delicate for Ukraine. Beyond the successful counterattack in Kupyansk, in recent weeks the Russian army has continued to advance in Donetsk: it has declared that it has occupied Yesversk after many months of attacks, although Kyiv denies this, it has reaffirmed control over Pokrovsk, and it has made progress in neighboring Mirnograd. Moreover, this weekend Russia carried out one of the worst waves of bombing against Ukrainian cities and left hundreds of thousands of citizens without electricity or water, especially in Odesa and Mykolaiv.