Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that the issue of Ukraine’s NATO membership is currently viewed as a future prospect, as the United States does not see such an opportunity at this moment.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Security Guarantees and Dialogue with the US
According to the head of state, Ukraine is currently focusing on obtaining effective security guarantees, particularly in a bilateral format with the United States. These guarantees, Zelensky stated, should be reflected in a 20-point plan that includes the principle of “mirror” protection, similar to Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which guarantees collective defense for member countries of the alliance.
“As of today, we are considering effective security guarantees… Bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the US are very important to us. They formulate this in the 20-point plan as Article 5 mirror, meaning the same as what exists in NATO. We want to delve into this issue in detail in the coming days, and we will understand the details of these security guarantees,” said the head of the Ukrainian state on the evening of December 9, responding to questions from Ukrainian journalists.
Current Position of Russia and US Peace Initiatives
On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his intention to achieve victory in the full-scale war against Ukraine and to complete the so-called “special military operation.” Earlier, on December 2, Putin met in Moscow with the special envoy of American President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Following this meeting, the Kremlin reported that no compromise had been reached yet, and the Russian side disagreed with certain points of the American peace plan.
In a recent interview with Politico, Donald Trump stated that at this moment, Russia holds a stronger position in negotiations than Ukraine. Trump also advised President Zelensky to agree to the American peace initiative, which, according to him, involves significant concessions from Ukraine.
Since November, negotiations have been ongoing between the US, Ukraine, and Russia regarding the proposed peace plan from Washington. According to media reports, the initial version of this document included the transfer of the entire Donbas to the Russian Federation, the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from controlled territories in the Donetsk region, as well as the freezing of hostilities in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions along the line of demarcation. The official publication of this draft has not yet occurred.