The Wall Street Journal noted that in several interviews and public statements over the past week, Vladimir Zelensky has tried to show that he is ready to negotiate an end to the war.
President Vladimir Zelensky is quietly changing his rhetoric about ending the war with Russia, indicating that Ukraine is ready for peace negotiations, subject to an invitation to NATO membership, the WSJ notes.
The publication noted that in several interviews and public statements over the past week, Zelensky has tried to show that he is ready to negotiate an end to the war. Throughout the war, Zelensky insisted that Ukraine would continue fighting until it regained approximately 20% of its territory occupied by Russia. Zelensky is now suggesting he could agree to a ceasefire that would effectively leave the occupied territory “in Moscow’s hands” if the rest of Ukraine accepted NATO protection.
However, according to the publication, two significant obstacles stand in the way of this idea: the chances of Ukraine joining the military alliance in the near future remain small, and there are no signs that Russian dictator Vladimir wants to negotiate Putin.
How the rhetoric has changed
At a press conference on Sunday, December 1, Zelensky said that Ukraine would be ready to enter such negotiations only from a position of strength, which would require further steps towards NATO and new supplies of weapons. West, especially in remote areas.
“If we have a (frozen) conflict without a strong position from Ukraine, Putin will come in two, three or five years. He will come back and destroy us. Or he will try to destroy us,” Zelensky said.
Speaking on Sky News on November 29, Zelensky said that NATO membership should be offered to the unoccupied parts of Ukraine in order for Kyiv to consider ending the “hot war phase.” Although Ukraine will continue to claim all of its territories, Zelensky suggested that Kyiv would try to “return them diplomatically.” He expressed a similar thesis in an interview with the Japanese publication Kyodo News.
“Our army is not strong enough for this… We must find diplomatic solutions,” Zelensky said of expelling the Russians from the occupied territory.
The WSJ believes that Zelensky’s shift in rhetoric reflects growing fatigue among Ukrainians who express a desire to end the war, but major Western capitals, particularly Washington and Berlin, remain reluctant to advance the rapprochement of the Ukraine in NATO.
NATO will not invite now
NATO is unlikely to support Ukraine’s request for an invitation to join the Alliance during its meeting on December 3, Reuters reported (a meeting of NATO foreign ministers will take place in Brussels on December 3-4).
The agency said that, despite an appeal by Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sibiga who called for an invitation to Kyiv to join NATO, there was no necessary consensus among the Alliance’s 32 member countries to make such a decision at the meeting of minister in Brussels. Therefore, according to a senior US official, the meeting will focus on increasing support for Ukraine so that it is in a stronger position as possible next year “entering potential negotiations.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has suggested that Ukraine postpone “any peace talks” with Russia until Western allies provide enough military aid to help Kyiv advance on the battlefield and gain more strong negotiating position.
At the same time, Rutte emphasized that Ukraine should decide whether it is ready to start negotiations with Russia. The Secretary General also called on NATO members to increase the supply of weapons, ammunition and air defense equipment before proceeding to work on a ceasefire.
Source: korrespondent
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