Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is willing to sign a peace deal with Russia if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) agrees to take Kyiv in as a member.
"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. "We need to do it fast. And then on the [occupied] territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way."
He argued that if NATO takes in Ukraine, the defense alliance would recognize Ukraine's borders and "immediately" come to the defense of all of the land Kyiv controls. Zelensky also pointed out that Russian President Vladimir Putin would "not use the peace to prepare for another invasion" if Ukraine were a member of NATO.
Meanwhile, the Russian leader was one step ahead when he previously expressed disagreement with Ukraine's desire to join NATO, saying that Kyiv should be a neutral nation. Back in June, Putin said Zelensky should give up insisting on joining the alliance for peace talks to begin. (Related: Putin signals readiness for peace talks with Trump but stresses unchanged demands for ending Ukraine conflict.)
Zelensky's most recent announcement marks the first time he has declared a possibility of a pause in the war with Russia before asking for all its land back. In a recent interview, the Ukrainian leader said they would later try to ask any Ukrainian land Russia continues to hold to be returned to them in a "diplomatic way."
But Putin is expected to demand all the land he currently holds, including the regions of Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and parts of Kharkiv.
Critics were warning previously that Ukraine's reliance on the supply of military and humanitarian assistance is looking bleak as outgoing President Joe Biden's term is coming to an end and his supposed "successor" outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris failed to win the White House seat in the previous election.
But Zelensky seemed to be persistent in finding ways to be taken in by NATO.
Earlier this year, he presented a "victory plan" to the Ukrainian parliament and Western allies. Apart from his insistence on being part of NATO, he also asked for increased military support from the alliance.
Moreover, he was also hopeful that President-elect Donald Trump would work with him as Trump directly pledged to achieve peace as soon as he assumed office.
"I want to work with him 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 following Trump's victory.
NATO waits for Trump to start term before deciding on Ukraine's application
According to Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Bra, NATO members are waiting for Trump to take his seat at the White House before making a crucial decision over whether Ukraine will be allowed to join the alliance.
Bra said her country was in favor of the move but she suggested there was "a reality" determining many of her counterparts' stances.
"In principle, we as political leaders have agreed that Ukraine will be a member," Bra told Reuters on the sidelines of the NATO meeting. "Everybody is waiting for the new U.S. administration to start working, so I think that is one aspect that is said or unsaid, but it's a reality."
The former senior NATO official said Kyiv's battle-hardened military would be an asset for NATO.
"A number of countries don't necessarily feel comfortable inviting a country at war to join NATO," she said. "We are more flexible."
UkraineWitness.com contains more stories related to this.
Watch the video below where Zelensky begged NATO to grant Ukraine membership after Western-backed forces collapsed on the battlefield.
This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.
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