Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that the territories that are still under Kyiv’s jurisdiction should be taken under the “Nato umbrella” to stop the “hot stage” Russia-Ukraine war. While speaking to Sky News on Friday, the Ukrainian leader emphasised that such a proposal has “never been considered” by Ukraine before because it has never been offered.
“If we want to stop the hot stage of the war, we should take under the Nato umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control. That’s what we need to do fast, and then Ukraine can get back the other part of its territory diplomatically,” Zelenskyy said in the interview via translation.
“This proposal has never been considered by Ukraine because no one has ever offered that to us officially,” he furthered. He insisted that such an invitation should be given “within the internationally recognised borders” not just to “one part of the territory”. The proclamation from the Ukrainian leader came months after he presented his “victory plan” to his Western allies.
‘Ceasefire is needed’: Zelenskyy
The Ukrainian president emphasised that a ceasefire was needed to “guarantee that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will not come back” to take more Ukrainian territory. He went on to urge Nato to “immediately” cover the unoccupied parts of the Ukrainian territory and appeared to accept that the occupied eastern parts of the country would fall outside of such a deal for the time being, Sky News reported.
During the interview, Zelenskyy also spoke about President-elect Donald Trump’s stance on the ongoing war. When asked what he thought about the new American leader, Zelenskyy said “We have to work with the new president” in order to “have the biggest supporter”.
“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. “It will not be 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,” he added.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/world/zelenskyy-hints-at-ceasefire-deal-with-russia-in-exchange-for-nato-umbrella-over-unoccupied-territories-13840284.html.
