Zelensky Ready for Negotiations: Major Concessions Ahead

A British media outlet has reported that the President of Ukraine is now ready to make major concessions in order to reach peace with Russia.

According to Rokna, the Financial Times wrote in a report that Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, has stated that Kyiv is prepared to abandon its long-standing demand for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), on the condition that it receives specific security guarantees in return from Western allies, including the United States.

Zelensky told reporters today: We are talking about bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the United States; that is, guarantees similar to NATO’s Article 5, in addition to agreements with European countries as well as countries such as Canada and Japan.

The Financial Times wrote that Ukraine has consistently emphasized that NATO membership is the best way to obtain such guarantees. By contrast, Russia has opposed this issue during peace negotiations and has called for Ukraine’s neutrality.

The issue of security guarantees and their potential form and framework has long been one of the main sticking points in the protracted peace negotiations.

The President of Ukraine also said yesterday, Saturday, that officials in his country are working to ensure an honorable peace for Ukraine and, above all, to obtain guarantees that Russia will not return to Ukraine for a third time.

In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in southern Ukraine and simultaneously supported pro-Kremlin separatists in eastern Ukraine. The start of Russia’s special military operation in eastern Ukraine also began in February 2022.

Moscow has stated that NATO’s eastward expansion and its approach toward Russia’s borders were among the main reasons for launching the special operation in Ukraine.