Ukraine has flatly rejected a suggestion from a top NATO official that it might have to give up some territory to bring it into the military alliance.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Zelensky, called NATO Chief of Staff Stian Jenssen’s proposal “ridiculous”.
He wrote on Twitter on Tuesday: “Trading territory for a NATO umbrella… means consciously choosing to defeat democracy, encourage a global criminal, preserve the Russian regime, destroy international law and pass on the war to other generations.’
Jenssen said earlier in the day at a panel debate in Arendal, Norway: ‘I’m not saying it has to be this way. But that could be a possible solution.’
Ukraine’s president and other senior officials have previously ruled out trade territory for peace or NATO membership, even as Russian attacks move further west.
Zelensky recognized in June that Ukraine could not become a NATO member until the end of the war, as membership would oblige all members to defend it in direct confrontation with Russia.
But the comments follow some of the most devastating attacks on regions of Ukraine bordering NATO since the invasion began, which left three workers dead in the western city of Lutsk on Tuesday morning.
A man is seen near the destroyed house after a Russian missile strike, as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues in the village of Stavchany, Lviv region, Ukraine on August 15, 2023
A handout photo provided by Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi shows a burning building after a rocket attack in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Ukraine August 15, 2023
Advisor to the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak speaks during an interview with AFP in Kyiv on July 19, 2023. He brushed off suggestions that Ukraine would have to cede land to join NATO
Airstrikes hit regions of Ukraine on Tuesday, including areas close to NATO borders
Jenssen originally spoke of the possibility of ceding territory to Russia to help end the war.
He said: “I think one solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory and get NATO membership in return.”
Jenssen is chief of staff to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
He clarified that Stoltenberg, unwilling to discuss possible solutions for ending the war, said that “it should be up to Ukraine to decide when and under what terms to negotiate.”
Podolyak spoke candidly on Twitter about the need to hold Russia accountable for its brutal invasion of Ukraine.
He wrote: ‘Why should Russia voluntarily give up provocations, hybrids and traditional behavior without losing?
It is clear that if Putin does not suffer a crushing defeat, the political regime in Russia does not change and war criminals are not punished, the war will surely return with Russia’s hunger for more.
Attempts to maintain world order and create a ‘bad peace’ by, let’s face it, Putin’s triumph will not bring peace to the world, but will bring both dishonor and war.
‘That applies to any form of a new ‘division of Europe’: also under the NATO umbrella.
“Then why propose Russia’s preferred scenario of a freeze instead of accelerating the delivery of weapons?
“Murderers should not be encouraged by horrible indulgences…”
Not all agree. On July 17, a former Ukrainian presidential adviser made similarly controversial remarks about ceding territory to gain support from NATO.
Oleksiy Arestovych said trading 20 percent of Ukrainian territory for NATO membership for the rest of Ukraine could help end the war.
He said sticking with the “greater part of the state” and joining NATO would be a “super historic opportunity” for the country.
Arestovych resigned as adviser in January after saying a Russian missile that hit an apartment building in Dnipro had been shot down by Ukrainian air defences.
Ukraine has endured a relentless campaign of drone strikes and missile strikes in recent weeks, with Russia striking deep into western Ukraine.
The city of Lviv, a former territory of Poland, was hit by airstrikes on Tuesday. Officials claimed this was the heaviest air strike on the region since the start of the war.
Three people were killed in Lutsk – also historically linked to Lithuania, Poland and the Russian Empire – in strikes on Tuesday, and more than a dozen were injured.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, said on Telegram: “The daily terror of the Russians has only one goal: to break us.
‘That will not happen.’
As fears grow over alleged Russian encroachment on Europe, allies have sought to bolster security along its borders.
Late last month, Poland moved 1,000 troops to Belarus as Belarusian soldiers trained on the border with troops from the Wagner group.
Warsaw has made significant efforts in recent years to strengthen its military and is now in the top 20 world power according to the GFP index.
In June, USA approved $15 billion in Patriot and missile defense upgrades for Poland.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki last year urged the country to build an army “so strong that it is better not to have to fight” and to deter the enemy with “sheer strength”.
He announced that more than PLN 100 billion (£19.396 billion) would be allocated to the modernization of the military in 2023 alone.
Russia views these moves as NATO-sponsored acts of aggression.
On July 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “Polish leaders are probably trying to build a coalition under the umbrella of NATO and directly join the conflict in Ukraine, and then tear off a bigger piece for themselves, restore them, as they believe. , historical territory – present-day western Ukraine.’
Poland used to rule much of central and eastern Europe as part of a wider commonwealth that included Lithuania and included parts of modern-day Ukraine.
It lost much of its territory during a period of crisis in the 18th century and was partitioned by Russia in 1772, 1792 and 1795, irretrievably worsening relations.
While many Poles may regret the new borders imposed by Russia after World War II, there is no serious reason for Poles to “reconquer” former territories, such as Lviv.
Rescue workers are at work in the area where a rocket hit an industrial company in Lutsk of Volyn area, Western Ukraine, August 15, 2023. Three killed in attacks on the city on Tuesday morning
Firefighters try to extinguish a fire in a building destroyed by a Russian S300 missile strike in Kramatorsk, Ukraine on August 15, 2023
A man clears the shards of a broken window after a missile fragment struck an adjacent residential building in Lviv, Ukraine on August 15, 2023.
After exiting a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain to world markets through the city of Odessa, Russia has also been hammering Black Sea ports with strikes.
On August 2, Russian drones fell overnight on grain storage facilities and port infrastructure in southwestern Ukraine, bringing the conflict closer to neutral Moldova.
Six Iranian-made Shaded drones swarmed over an oil depot in Izmail, Odessa region, setting fires to the industrial and port facilities that carry crucial grain exports.