Kyiv, Ukraine:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday called on NATO to provide reliable protection to the areas of Ukraine controlled by Kiev in order to “stop the hot phase of the war.”
Zelenskiy also said he would wait for Russian forces to regain nearly a fifth of the country they captured if such a deal would provide security for the rest of Ukraine and end the fighting. he suggested.
The comments came amid heightened tensions in the nearly three-year war.
Russia this week threatened to attack government buildings in Kiev and launched a major airstrike on Ukraine’s energy sector. This was done in response to Ukraine firing missiles provided by the United States and Britain into Russian territory.
“If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we should bring the Ukrainian territory we control under the umbrella of NATO,” Zelenskyy told Britain’s Sky News, according to an audio translation of his remarks from Ukrainian to English. ” he said.
“That’s what we need to do quickly so that Ukraine can diplomatically regain other parts of its territory,” he added.
Since Donald Trump won the US presidential election earlier this month, talk of a ceasefire or possible peace agreement has increased.
Republicans criticized U.S. aid to Kiev, claiming it could stop the conflict within hours without saying how.
Russia controls about 18 percent of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
Since the 2022 invasion, the Russian government has claimed four regions further east and south of Ukraine – Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhia – even though it does not have full control of them.
Kiev has repeatedly ruled out ceding territory in exchange for peace, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukrainian forces withdraw from wider areas of land.
“guarantee”
President Zelenskiy has argued that the offer of NATO membership should be extended to all of Ukraine, but his comments about the “NATO umbrella” do not include the alliance’s substantive protections, such as Article 5’s collective defense clause. This suggests that it may be accepted and may only apply to territory controlled by Kiev. .
He said such an arrangement would be necessary to prevent Russia from attacking again in the future.
“If we are to discuss a ceasefire, we need a guarantee that President Putin will not return,” Zelenskiy said in English.
President Putin has previously called on Kiev to abandon its NATO ambitions if it wants a peace deal.
President Zelenskiy has held a series of phone calls in recent days with Western leaders, including Britain’s Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz, as the conflict on the battlefield escalates. .
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with Ukraine’s foreign minister on Friday and explained “the United States’ goals for sustainable assistance to Ukraine,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Since President Trump won the election, President Joe Biden’s administration has stepped up aid to Kiev, transferred more weapons and given Ukraine permission to launch long-range missiles into Russian territory.
The move prompted a furious reaction in Moscow, with President Vladimir Putin authorizing the launch of a new hypersonic missile into the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk and threatening to strike government targets in Kiev in response.
President Zelenskiy on Friday appointed a new army commander, Mykhailo Drapati, to strengthen the military’s leadership.
Drapati previously led troops in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, defending against a new Russian surprise attack earlier this year.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said: “These personnel decisions are aimed at strengthening our armed forces, increasing their combat readiness and introducing new management methods.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
