Kiev, Ukraine:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday called on NATO to provide guaranteed protection to parts of Ukraine controlled by Kiev, to “stop the hot phase of the war.”
Zelensky also suggested that he would be willing to wait to regain nearly a fifth of his land that the Russian military has seized, if such a deal could provide security for the rest of Ukraine and put an end to the fights.
The comments came amid escalating tensions during the nearly three-year war.
Russia this week threatened to attack government buildings in Kiev and launched a massive airstrike on Ukraine's energy sector — something it called a response to Ukraine firing U.S.- and British-supplied missiles into Russian territory.
“If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we must bring the territory of Ukraine under our control under the NATO umbrella,” Zelensky told Britain's Sky News, according to a voiceover recording his remarks. Translated Ukrainian into English.
“That's what we need to do quickly, and then Ukraine can get back the other part of its territory diplomatically,” he added.
Talks about a possible ceasefire or peace deal have flared up since Donald Trump won the US presidential elections earlier this month.
The Republican has criticized US aid to Kiev, claiming he could stop the conflict within hours, without saying how.
Russia controls about 18 percent of Ukraine's internationally recognized territory, including the Crimean Peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014.
Since the 2022 invasion, Moscow has claimed four eastern and southern regions of Ukraine – Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhia – as its own, despite not having full control over them.
Kiev has repeatedly ruled out ceding territory in exchange for peace, while Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded the Ukrainian army withdraw from large parts of the country.
'Guarantees'
Zelenskiy emphasized that any offer to join NATO must be made to all of Ukraine, but his comments about the “NATO umbrella” suggest that he could only extend the alliance's practical protections, such as Article Five's collective defense clause accept if it is extended to the area under Kiev control. .
Such an arrangement would be necessary to ensure that Russia does not attack again in the future, he said.
“If we reach a ceasefire, we need guarantees that Putin will not return,” Zelensky said in English.
Putin has previously called on Kiev to abandon its NATO ambitions if the country wants a peace deal.
As the battlefield conflict escalates, Zelensky 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.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with Ukraine's foreign minister on Friday to brief him on “U.S. goals for sustained support to Ukraine,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Joe Biden's administration has stepped up its support for Kiev since Trump won the election, transferring more weapons and allowing Ukraine to fire long-range missiles into Russian territory.
The move sparked an angry response in Moscow, with Putin authorizing the firing of a new hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro and threatening to hit government targets in Kiev in response.
Zelensky appointed a new army commander, Mykhailo Drapaty, on Friday in a bid to strengthen army leadership.
Drapaty previously led troops in Kharkov's northeastern sector, defending against a surprise new Russian offensive earlier this year.
“These personnel decisions are aimed at strengthening our military, increasing combat readiness and introducing new management approaches,” Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
